Kim Possible: Impossible Journey
by LJ58
Summary: Team Possible is taking on another Drakken plot when Kim and Shego are apparently lost in the bowels of the Earth itself. Ron is trying to continue his BFF's legacy, but what really happened to the girls? Everyone wants to know, but someone doesn't want them finding out. *Nominated Best Mature-Rated Story in 14th Annual Fannies.*
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **1**

Ron Stoppable was almost enjoying himself as he faced off against almost a full dozen Henches even as Kim battled Shego on the far side of the volcanic cavern where Dr. Drakken had set up his latest lair.

Yet to learn his lesson even after that alien fiasco, or anything else for that matter, Drakken had once more tried building a doomsday weapon to threaten the world into submission. Cue Team Possible, and this time Ron came out swinging alongside Kim as the stunned Henches found their numbers fast whittled down between the monkey-master and the cringing lunatic on the other side of their living barricade.

He didn't even look toward Kim during the fight, knowing she could handle Shego, and even had a few new moves the redhead was itching to try on her longtime nemesis.

Still, even he was put back when Drakken, cringing behind four men, suddenly jumped up, and shouted, "Yes! Yes, do it! Finish her!"

Ron spun around, and saw Kim on the very edge of a precipice that went down into one of the open pits left all over the cavern by Drakken's haphazard drilling. Kim was trying to hold her balance on the edge of that one pit even as Shego moved toward her, and lifted a glowing fist.

"No," Ron shouted, and moved to stop her even as the men around him saw their own chance for a victory, and once again swarmed the distracted hero.

One moment his eyes were locked on Kim's glaring at Shego as her body started to fall, and the next Kim was gone as Shego was looking down with a victorious smirk.

"If I go, you go," was Kim's only cry as Ron heard the familiar blast of her pneumatic-powered grapple even as the prongs found, and folded around Shego's waist like a belt, jerking her forward as Kim's weight now obviously dragged at her.

"No," Drakken cried even as Shego cursed, and planted her feet, fighting the drag that threatened to pull her down after the redhead.

"Get out of the way," Ron roared, and swept three men from his path even as he rushed toward Shego as the comet-powered felong's feet slid right to the edge of the crumbling pit before she, too, went over.

Ron flung himself forward trying to grab at her, but she was already just out of reach as he landed looking down into the pit, and saw only two bodies falling into the stygian depths even as he stared.

Shego's howl of indignation masked anything Kim might have been saying as they tumbled out of sight, and then they were gone.

Staring down, he felt a cold chill as he realized the walls of the pits were virtually smooth as glass, with no way for someone to find, or grab a handhold that might support them. He wagered even Drakken didn't know how deep the pit might be either, since he had once again been tunneling blindly into the earth, setting off unnatural seismic activity that tipped off Wade to his current location.

Slowly rising to his feet, he turned to look at the men just standing there now with a grim expression. The Henches, to the last man, were backing away as Ron's hands began to glow ominously.

"Now…..Uh…..Let's be reasonable, uh, Stoppable," Drakken babbled, having finally learned his name after one too many close calls. "Accidents happen? Right? It was an accident," he assured him. "I mean….."

Drakken would have continued babbling had Ron not suddenly leapt over the Henches, grabbed his face, and smashed it right into the side of the living rock near a computer console. The man went down without a sound, and stayed down.

Then, eyes blazing with mystic energy, he glared at the men around him and hissed, "Give….up."

Every man still conscious threw his hands up, and didn't make a move.

"Wade," he barked into his communicator, "We have a sitch. Get GJ Rescue up here now. Kim fell into a hole, and it was deep. Drakken deep."

"She fell…?"

Ron nodded at the image of the young genius that appeared on his Ron-Com, and told him, "Shego pushed her. Oh, yeah, she fell in, too, afterward. I need help. Get someone up here now. Tell them not to worry," he said, glaring at the unconscious Drakken whose blue visage was currently hidden by a flow of blood from his flattened nostrils. "I took out the trash."

"Helps on the way, Ron. Can you hold your communicator over the hole? I'm not getting a reading off Kim's Kimmunicator, or her tracking beacon, so there must be some kind of magnetic interference coming from that pit. Maybe if you hold yours over it…."

"Holding it," he said, walking over to hold out the device.

There was a long silence as the machine blinked and chirped, but Wade said nothing.

"Wade? C'mon, talk to me, buddy," he shouted at the young man as he leaned over as far as he dared to keep the device aimed down.

"That's enough, Ron. I've got what I need," came his somber reply.

Ron inched back from the edge, and asked, "What is it? Could you spot them? Is Kim okay?"

"Ron, I….. I couldn't get anything. The interference from whatever is down there is too strong. But…. I did get a rough measurement from sonar pings. He used a laser bore to drill it, didn't he?"

"Uh, yeah. I think so," he said, seeing one of the Henches nodding.

"Ron, that hole is at least a thousand kilometers deep. It probably reaches the upper mantle, and…. Ron a fall like that….."

"But she had her battle suit. Her force field could have saved her. C'mon, Wade, she does this stuff all the time."

"Ron, it's a long shot. Honestly, I'm not even sure we could get someone down there to find out."

"What? Wade, this is KP," he protested.

"Ron, I'll keep working on it, but….. Things look bad. That's all I'm saying. They look bad," the young man said, and then closed the channel.

Ron turned to eye the Henches again, and not one of them didn't shudder when he did.

 **KP**

Ron sat on the back step of his house, staring at the grass, and feeling as if someone had torn his world apart.

"Son," his father came outside just then. "There's someone here to see you."

"Who," he murmured, not feeling much like seeing anyone. Not since even Dr. Director gave up the hunt for Kim.

It didn't help that all those other pits Drakken had cored out had undermined the area, and attempting to dig laterally with any kind of tunneler had apparently collapsed the entire tunnel system, and most of the pits. They barely got their rescuers out before the entire mountain had dramatically settled almost a full two feet. With the projections indicating Drakken did indeed pierce the outer mantle, no one thought either of the women could have survived even if they had only reached half those depths.

Kim Possible was listed as KIA. Shego with her.

Drakken got another life sentence, and was put right back in his old cell.

Ron just felt…..empty.

"It's that Dr. Director lady. She'd like to speak to you," his father finally admitted.

"Why," he muttered again, not feeling like seeing anyone. Especially after that farcical funeral those media people had turned into a circus, and then actually tried to trash Kim's reputation for their ratings.

They were lucky Kim's brothers only shut down their gear with a mini-EMP. He would have done a lot more. A lot more.

"Because," a familiar voice drawled as he turned to see the head of Global Justice standing right behind him in the open door. "Things are heating back up fast without Kimberly, and you are on the front lines, Ronald. We still need your help. The world needs your help."

Ron just stared at her.

"I know you are still grieving. We all are. But if I know anything, it is that Kim would have wanted us to keep fighting. To never give up."

"Save the speech," Ron said quietly, slowly pushing to his feet. "Just tell me who, and where."

The woman started to speak, but he suddenly glared.

He paused, eyeing her for a moment, then asked in a very soft voice, "It's not Drakken again?"

"Oh, no. He seems to have been shattered by Shego's loss as much as we were by Kimberly's," he was told. "For now. We are keeping an eye on him, though. Just in case. What we do have is a lot of old enemies exploiting her apparent death, and a lot of new ones trying to fill in, too."

"Apparent death," Mr. Stoppable frowned.

"With all due respect, Ronald," Dr. Director told him. "I'll believe Kim's dead when I see her body. Even now, knowing that remarkable young woman, I will not give up hope. Not yet."

Ron eyed the senior agent, and gave a weak smile.

"She could always surprise you sometimes," Ron said quietly.

"Yes, she _can_ ," Dr. Director nodded. "So, Ronald. Can we count on you?"

"I'm in. Who, and where," he said again, this time sounding a little more like himself.

"Dementor. He is reportedly trying to find the last Hive of the Bebes to attempt reprogramming them for his own use."

"Man, that's the last thing we need," he groaned. "Do I have a ride?"

"You do now," she said, and held out a small, leather case. "Agent Stoppable."

Ron eyed the badge for a second, slid it into his pocket, and said, "I'll just go change. Give me a second," he said, and found himself missing Rufus all the more without Kim at his side. Even mutated, mystical mole rats didn't live forever, though.

Team Possible was down to one, and he was feeling more than empty.

Only just now, he also felt like a little payback.

Someone, he swore, was going down.

He knew Dr. Director was only trying to cheer him up. Give him something to latch onto, but he had gotten Wade to finally give him a crash course on geology, and it wasn't a pretty picture. Far from it. It made him fear his best friend since forever had faced a very ugly death in the end.

Well, at least she didn't go alone.

And if Drakken ever showed his blue nose anywhere in his vicinity again…..

Well, Ron Stoppable could make sure no one ever found him again either.

 **KP**

"Ron," Jim murmured, looking up from something he and his brother were working on without much spirit just then as their sister's former boyfriend knocked at their door. "What's up?"

Tim didn't even say a word. He just kept staring at something on the blueprints in front of them.

"I've been…..working again. Then I got an idea," the monkey-master told the boys as he walked into their bedroom.

"Yeah," Tim muttered. "Us, too. We're building a robot drill that will find Kim. Only _nothing_ will stop this one," he said, though without much spirit.

It had been over a month now.

A month without any word on the redhead who had vanished into a hole drilled into the very heart of the planet. Good as she was, even the twins knew the odds against their daring sister in that scenario. But they weren't going to leave her out there. Not buried with _her_. They would find her, and bring her home. One way, or another.

"Good luck," Ron said quietly, and meant it. "Meanwhile, I have another project I'd like you to help me on if you don't mind."

"Yeah?"

"Wade said you helped amp some of Kim's gear in the past," the sandy-haired boy remarked.

"Yeah, so," Jim muttered.

"I want you to tweak mine. Wade won't do it. He's afraid I'll…..lose control. But I'm going back after the people that think Kim….leaving means they can do anything they want. I'm going to show them they can't. So, can I count on you?"

Two faces looked up at him only then, then slowly, genuinely feral smirks slid over their faces, and Tim said, "Let us show you what we've already got," he told him.

Ron smiled back.

"Lead the way."

"One stipulation," Tim grinned slyly.

"Yeah, what's that," Ron asked the two teens who had fast been garnering a reputation of their own of late with their increasingly dangerous experiments.

"We want in, too," Jim told him.

"We're keeping Kim's legacy alive. No one puts down a Possible, and gets away with it," Tim said grimly.

"No one," the boys said as one.

"Okay. I've got no problem with that. Frankly, GJ hasn't been that much of a help anyway."

The boys shared another look, but said nothing.

"Let's go to our real lab," they smiled, "And you can see what we've already thrown together," Jim grinned.

"Lead the way," Ron nodded without hesitation as they headed for their closet.

 _To Be Continued….._


	2. Chapter 2

_I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **2**

"That is the fourth time, _fourth_ ," Tim spat, "That those clowns left us hanging," he complained as the three members of Team Possible jumped off the truck, and eyed the long road back into Middleton. "I don't think it was an accident, either," he fumed.

"Twice is an accident," Jim muttered. "Four times is a statistical improbability."

"Yeah, I've been getting the feeling some of those guys don't like us showing them up so often," Ron told the twins in matching battle-suits fashioned after Kim's own.

"Duh," both boys shot back at Ron as they started walking into town.

"Makes me wonder about some of those other….accidents you said you and Kim had early on," Tim remarked.

"Hicca-bicca-boo?"

"Hoo-shaw," Tim nodded.

"Uh, want to clue me in, guys, because I still don't get the twin-speak," Ron reminded them.

The boys eyed one another, grinning, and then started to speak when a car pulled up behind them, and blew its horn.

"Hey, guys," a lean, toned brunette waved from the convertible. "Need a lift?"

"Bonnie," Ron frowned. "I didn't know you were back in town," he said.

"But we wouldn't mind a lift," the twins grinned. "Beats walking."

"Definitely. Which we will not be doing again. Ever," Jim added.

"Nope. Not ever again," Tim agreed.

"Well, climb in. I heard you guys were doing the hero thing after…. After Kim….. Disappeared," the brunette said quietly.

"Yeah. Someone had to step up," Jim huffed.

"GJ has been letting more baddies get away than not," Tim muttered. "They screwed up our last mission, too. Jerks."

"Why would they do that," she asked.

"Good question," Ron nodded as they climbed into the car. He in the passenger seat, and the boys in back.

"Well, I'd think they were incompetent," Jim huffed, "But their missions seem to always go like clockwork."

"So, someone is actually spiking you," Bonnie nodded at Ron.

"It sure looks like that may be the case," Ron grimaced. "Only I can't figure out why."

"Ron…. Look, before Junior and I broke up…."

"Again," the twins asked.

"We have issues. Okay," Bonnie snapped at the boys. "Look, before I left, I heard the old man say that Kim should be watching her friends as much as her enemies. Maybe… Maybe he knew something, but it sounded to me like someone wasn't too happy having her back out there after she graduated college."

"Wouldn't be the first time some envious jerk got all bent out of shape because Kim showed him up," Jim nodded.

"Yeah, I remember that time when Will….."

Ron looked back at the twins.

"Will Du," they both nodded.

"He has been our liason for every mission lately. He also led the rescue efforts before those tunnels ended up collapsing," Ron added.

"Suddenly, I'm wondering if we should be trusting this guy," Tim fumed.

"But didn't he and Kim bury that particular hatchet," Bonnie asked. "I mean, I remember her saying something about them….reaching an understanding."

"Maybe. Maybe," Ron murmured. "Look, just get us home, and we'll figure it out. We really appreciate the ride, too," he added as she eyed him.

"Actually, there was something else I was wanting to ask you guys, too."

"Yeah?"

"I want to join you."

"You," all three exclaimed as one.

Bonnie sighed.

"I…. I want to help. I want to….do something….good. Right. Special."

"Bon-Bon," Ron asked as she fell silent now, just staring at the road ahead as they entered town, and began the familiar turns down familiar streets that led home.

She glanced over at him, and shook her head.

"Be honest. Name one thing, just one, that I've done that would be called….good. I'll admit, I had problems with K…. With Kimberly. She always had to be so….good at everything. Even being good. I was… I was the mean queen. And for a while, that was okay. But when I was standing by her grave, and realized all she had done, without even really caring….about…."

"Bonnie," Ron asked when she choked off.

"It was like…. I realized I was going nowhere, and doing nothing. I was a shallow, selfish jerk. Like Junior. And I wanted to do something, anything, that would let me look at myself again with….without being…ashamed."

"We get it," the Possibles both said.

"Yeah. So do I," Ron nodded. "Welcome to the team. But, uh, can you…..you know….do anything? We don't want you getting hurt..."

Bonnie gave a watery smile now, and grinned.

"I have been taking karate lessons for the past few years. After the last time those jerks attacked our school, I felt if Kim could do it, so could I. Then…. Then I realized I really liked being in better shape, and…. You know, being able to take care of myself."

"Nothing wrong with that," Ron smiled.

"Besides, if you can fight, you'll be even better with one of our battle-suits," Tim grinned at her from the back seat.

"Just one thing," Ron told her. "Let's keep what we said about GJ on the down-low," he told her. "In fact, if you see any blue suits, don't say anything about us. At all," Ron said.

"I can do that," Bonnie grinned. "In fact, I think you know I'm very good at keeping secrets," she told him pointedly.

"Huh," both Possibles sputtered.

"Never mind," Ron told them. "Nothing to worry about here. Not a thing. So, uh, you said you could solve our ride sitch," Ron asked them, obviously changing topics.

"Well, give us a few days, and we'll definitely have something," Jim grinned.

"A few days…"

"Two days," Tim told him. "Just…like you told Bon, don't say anything to anyone just yet."

"You know I won't," Ron nodded. "Say I live…."

Bonnie had already turned, and Ron frowned. "Uh, so….."

"I know you moved to Middle Town Apartments, Ron," she told him. "I was here for Kim's funeral," she reminded him.

"Oh, yeah," he blushed. "Right. I…. I knew that. Of course I knew that. Totally remembered it, too," he nodded.

The twins in the back eyed one another, and just shook their heads.

"You can just drop us off at Ron's place," Jim told her.

"You sure," Bonnie asked. "I thought you still lived…."

"We do," Tim cut her off.

"But we have to do some shopping anyway," Jim added.

"Right, shopping. The kind mom and dad don't need to know about," Tim added pointedly.

"Okay, guys," she said, pulling into the parking lot in front of the apartment complex Ron now called home since coming home from college. "Here we are."

"We'll let you know when we get a battle-suit made for you," Jim told her.

"You can come to our place, and try it out once we do."

"Meanwhile," Jim went on, "Let's try and ignore the harpy for a while," he told Ron.

"We'll see what comes up next," he nodded as they climbed out of the car. "Want to come up for a while," Ron asked as the boys walked off without looking back.

Bonnie eyes him, smiled wanly, and only then shut off her engine.

"You sure," she asked.

"You asked that last time."

"And look what happened," she reminded him.

"Hey," Ron told her. "We were both upset. Both grieving. There's nothing wrong in….comforting one another."

Bonnie sighed, and looked away.

"Is that what we did," she asked, remembering when she ran into Ron after the grumbling reporters had left, the Tweebs having shut down every camera and microphone in the area. "Comfort one another."

"Well, that, and….other stuff," the one-time buffoon blushed.

"I thought…. Well, you….might have…."

"I liked it. And you. Bonnie, you know we split up not long after I went to…..college. Kim and I found out we were better friends, than not. We just managed to stay friends….."

"And sidekicks," she asked quietly.

"More partners. Even if Kim and I never really….you know, worried about who was in charge. We just….helped."

"I know that. That's what I want to do now, too. Help. Prove I….."

"You have nothing to prove to me," Ron told her with surprising maturity. "But if you want to join us, Team Possible is always open to those that really want to help."

Bonnie looked up at him again only then, and gave a wan smile.

"I do, Ron. I do. I want my life to….to mean something, too," she said softly.

"Come on up. We can talk inside," he told her.

She nodded, and pulled the keys from the ignition.

"Ron," she asked as they walked toward the apartment building. "Do you think Kim would care if she did know if we….saw one another."

Ron stared at her as they reached the door, and he pulled it open for her.

"Bonnie, she'd just be happy we were friends. Trust me on that."

Bonnie smiled, and walked into the lobby ahead of him.

 **KP**

Dr. Director looked up from her newest reports as William walked into her office, and set a new file down.

"And that is?"

"The debrief on Team Possible's last mission. Dementor escaped. Again."

"That isn't surprising. Even Kimberly had trouble with him," she nodded.

"We would have had him if Stoppable had followed orders," he grumbled.

"Oh?"

"He went off-script. Again," the senior field agent complained.

"Ronald isn't one for scripts."

"No. He's actually getting worse than _she_ was," Will muttered.

Ronald has his own strengths, Will," she told him. "We just have to incorporate them. Was Dementor stopped?"

"Well, yes….."

"Then the mission was technically successful. Where is Ronald now?"

"He missed the rendezvous. I'm assuming that hacker friend of theirs will get them home, though."

"You left them in Bulgaria," Dr. Director looked up again.

"They missed the rendezvous," he declared firmly. "We couldn't risk endangering the rest of the team, so I felt it best to evacuate immediately."

Dr. Director reached for the file covering the mission now, and eyed her senior agent.

"Egos aside, there is something you are overlooking here, Will."

"I don't understand," he frowned.

"No, I don't suppose you do. My point, Agent Du, is that while Ronald is likely not the type to say anything about you jerking transport from them three…. _Four_ times now, the Possibles are. In fact, I'd wager they are going to shove that little lapse back in all our faces if you continue to be spiteful," she warned him.

"Spiteful," Will sputtered. "Dr. Director, those children shouldn't even be in the field. At times they're as dangerous as those we pursue. And…."

"And while Ron won't say anything, recall who, and what he is. If he chooses to leave, we won't be able to find him. Or manage him. Do we really want the world's most powerful mystic ninja deciding he doesn't need our guidance?"

"I've not seen anything special from him. He seems to be pretty much the same lackadaisical….."

"Then you aren't paying attention," the head of Global Justice cut him off. "Stop cutting off Team Possible, Agent Du. That is a direct order. Or I'll start thinking you're working as a double agent."

"I would never….!"

"No? You had best consider our provisional agents may be thinking just that at the moment."

Will only frowned as Dr. Director waved a hand.

"Dismissed, Agent Du."

"Yes, ma'am," he said somberly, and turned to go, his expression grim.

 **KP**

Two days later, Ron and Bonnie were led to a remote warehouse not far from Ron's apartment where the Tweebs revealed some surprising security to get inside. Or maybe not so surprising security. Still, that wasn't what truly stunned him.

"Whoa," Ron murmured, staring at the sleek, black jet with the TP logo on the back in red and gold.

"Say hello to the _Kimminator_ ," Jim and Tim told him as they unveiled the jet they had been building all along in the warehouse rented in Middleton near Ron's new apartment. "Mark II," Jim added to clarify.

"Nice," the monkey-master murmured.

"It's VTOL, of course," Jim grinned as they walked around the aircraft.

"With aquatic transformation, it turns into a submarine, and can go almost anywhere. We could probably even go suborbital in this baby," Tim added.

"Defenses?"

"Defenses? In _our_ jet," Jim huffed.

"Front _and_ rear laser canons," Tim smirked. "Fully directional shields that could repel pretty much anything. And…"

He pressed a device, and the wings split, and reviewed upper and lower rows of mini-missiles that sprouted from the wings.

"Serious….firepower," Jim smirked. "Anybody aims another missile at us, and they are toast," the young teen told him.

"Me likey," Bonnie drawled as she came around the side of the jet as she studied the vehicle. "When do we get to try it out?"

"Now," Ron told her. "I just heard that Junior is up to his usual antics, and you can bet his old man will use his nonsense as a cover for something bigger. Again. Want to go say hello to your old boyfriend?"

"I do owe him," Bonnie smiled coldly, never having quite explained why she had broke up with the playboy after that last summer.

"Is Felix coming," Jim asked, the young scientist having recently joined in a provisional manner after hearing of Bonnie's training with Ron to join the team. "We do owe him a look, since some of his devices went into this baby."

"He's got something to do at the university," Bonnie told them. "He couldn't make it this time, but he said he had something to share when we saw him again. You know how he likes to play mysterious these days."

"Right. So, let's gear up, load up, and go get the Seniors," Jim declared, and opened the hatch even as the wings closed again.

"Can you guys actually fly this thing," Bonnie asked them, remembering a few spectacular crashes in the recent past.

"No big," they both grinned.

"We borrowed one of dad's new AIs," Tim went on.

"Plugged it in, and added a few upgrades, and….."

"Completely autonomous controls," they grinned as they crowed yet again, sharing a high five.

"Just tell her where to go, and she'll get you there," Jim concluded as they climbed into the jet.

"Okay, Annie, warm up the engines."

"Activating primary power core," the surprisingly human voice replied.

"Cool," Ron murmured. "That's just like Dr. P's computer in his rocket."

"Oh, Annie is much cooler," Jim told him as they buckled in after they suited up in matching power suit's the twins had tweaked for their own use.

"Much cooler," Tim agreed. "So, where to, Ron?"

"Senior's island. At least, that was where Junior was last broadcasting. If he hasn't left, maybe we can head him off this time, and stop him from doing anything…."

"Stupid," Bonnie suggested.

"Worse than stupid," Ron agreed. "Can you handle going after Junior," Ron asked her again.

"Oh, yeah," Bonnie told him as she adjusted the right glove on her own battle-suit she had pulled on.

"Okay," Ron nodded, not about to ask more. "Annie, Senior Island."

"Coordinates locked, and navigational systems engaged. Liftoff in three seconds."

"Seconds," Bonnie squeaked even as the jet rolled out of the warehouse, and then went vertical so fast she was left gasping for air before it reached cruising altitude. The primary thrusters exploded even as it reached altitude, sending the jet racing across the sky as Ron only smiled.

"Nice job, boys," Ron told them, gathering himself for whatever was ahead.

Of late, even Dr. Director noted he was all business, and far from the buffoon most mocked in his early days.

A few of their old villains had even retired after facing this new Ron, but there were all too many out there that replaced them. Or those that simply would not learn.

Like Junior.

So far, he noted, Drakken had yet to make a move.

He knew, because he was still watching.

He almost hoped the loon did break out, because Ron intended to be there.

Some had suggested that might be why Drakken wasn't budging. Because he knew it, too, and was afraid of seeing Ron again.

Very afraid.

 _To Be Continued….._


	3. Chapter 3

_I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **3**

 **Meanwhile** : _Just Over One Month Ago…_

"Damn you, Princess," Shego howled, actually screaming in fear as her gloved hands slid futilely over the nearly glass smooth walls as she tried to slow their fall.

"Wade, I really need help," Kim tried to call, but the bursts of static from her wrist Kimmunicator were her only reply.

Twisting in midair, she put away her useless grapple, and stared into the stygian depths below her as they continued to fall.

"I thought you were a good guy," Shego shouted, her tone genuinely filled with fear as they felt the cold of the depths starting to fade as the air began to warm more and more as they fell deeper and deeper.

"And I thought you would be able to support my weight, and pull me out," Kim shot back.

"That's right," Shego swore. "Blame me!"

"You shoved me in this hole in the first place."

"You deserved it!"

"Deserved….? Keep on, and I'll let you figure out how to save yourself!"

"Yeah, right," Shego complained, "Because you just happen to have a way to….."

Shego yelped as the heating air suddenly turned cooler again as Kim's familiar force field blossomed around the both of them, and they began to slow as Kim gradually expanded the glowing ball around them, and used the friction of the walls on the crackling energy field to ease their headlong fall.

After what felt like a very long slide, they stopped, and were left dangling in darkness with nothing overhead, and nothing below.

Except a very faint, disturbingly crimson glow that was just visible below them now.

"Okay. Okay," Shego shivered at the sight below them, forcing herself not to look down again. "Kudos for thinking under serious pressure. Now what, Kimmie?"

Kim grimaced, and said, "Now, we hope my power supply holds out while I use the controls to push us back up. Only it's going to take time. Those walls really are as smooth as they look…."

"Duh. Drew used that damn laser bore again. One of these days….."

"Okay. Okay. I have an idea. How fine can you channel your plasma?"

"Uh….. What are you thinking," the comet-powered woman asked.

"I'm thinking if we have even the slightest hole, or irregularity around us, we can use it to expand my shield against, and push off to get us moving upward. So, if I opened a small window, say….there," she said, her flashlight indicating a more gray than blue section of rock near their knees where the shield had been opened.

"Like this," Shego smirked, and pointed a finger that fired a thin burst of raw plasma into the rock, and opened a handhold.

"Perfect."

"Actually, I had a better idea. Now we've stopped freefalling, I can do this," she said, and letting plasma roil around her hands and feet, she slammed them into the rock even as Kim caught on, and pulled back the shield enough to let her do what she was doing.

"Okay, I think I can angle my force shield to keep us supported against the rock, and let you carve handholds for us to climb."

Shego looked down at her after climbing a few feet, and swore, "Just _never_ tell anyone I screamed, will you? My rep is going to take a beating as it is after they realize we worked together to get out of here. Again," she muttered sourly.

"Your rep is the least of your problems just now," Kim scowled up at her, monitoring her power flow, and keeping an eye on where Shego was poking holes into the rock. She had to give them time to cool before she used them, so she would let the felon get up of her ahead a few feet, then scramble up after.

"Any idea how far down we are?"

"Trying _very_ hard not to even think about it," Kim complained, knowing her ears had seriously popped at least twice on the way down. Maybe three times. "Let's just focus on the getting out part."

"Fine. Fine. I'm just making conversation," Shego grumbled.

"Okay, then why?"

"Why, what?"

"Why go back to Drakken, again, when you had a complete pardon? You could have done anything?"

"Oh, yeah. Lots of calls for ex-thieves with comet powers out there, aren't there," she complained, pausing to glance down at her longtime nemesis as she took a break from the maddeningly slow climb.

The faint red glow was no longer visible, so she had to consider they were making some headway.

She turned, and channeled her plasma again even as something dropped atop them, bouncing off the force field around them.

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh," Shego asked her uneasily.

"Better hold on. I think we're about to have another quake!"

"That blue-skinned _freak_ ," Shego screamed as the very world seemed to twist around them, and she had visions of being buried alive.

At the least.

Then the rubble was falling thicker, and heavier, and something slammed into one side of the shield on her left, and Kim swore herself as it impacted so hard it almost made them slide downward again.

"Whoa! What was that?"

"I think….. I think….. The tunnel collapsed on top of us," Kim told her somberly as only her glowing force field now lit the stygian darkness around them. There wasn't even a faintest trace of light from overhead now.

Shego felt her super-heated blood chill as she slowly looked up, following Kim's gaze, and saw the massive boulder just over their heads. It was lodged right over them, and had it not been for the force field, it would have likely slammed right into them with enough force to kill them both instantly.

If they had been lucky.

"I swear…. I am going to _kill_ him, Kimberly," Shego said, her voice betraying she was very close to hysteria just then.

"Hold on. I'm going to try something else."

"What? We're been buried alive, and….."

"Just hold on. I need to check….."

"Ah! What is that," she complained as she looked down, but Kim seemed to only be fumbling with her watch again as something sounding like bird calls filled the air.

"Sonar," she said. "I'm bouncing a signal around us to… _Yes_!"

"What?"

"Shego, we have to go back down a few feet."

" _Down_ ," the green-skinned woman shrieked.

"Not far. "Three feet down, and on our….right….is an open tunnel that shows sign of being stable. If we can reach it, we might find another way out."

"Okay. Okay. But couldn't I just….burn our way back up? How deep is…."

"You don't want to know," Kim told her, deactivating her Kimmunicator sonar, and starting down without waiting. "Once I reach the level, I'll show you the direction, and you can get us over to the tunnel mouth."

"That's me," Shego complained loudly. "The human climbing buddy."

"Right now, I'm actually glad you're down here with me," Shego was told.

Shego had absolutely no answer to that.

They climbed back down slowly. Carefully. Listening to the rubble overhead shift again when the force field slowly descended with them.

"I was just thinking," Shego finally said when she started a horizontal climb around the tunnel wall.

"Yeah," Kim asked, following her as cautiously as ever.

"When we get out of this, I'm going to melt down your damn grapple….."

"Hey!"

"And pour it down Dr. D's throat. Yeah. _That'll_ make me feel better. For a start. How about you?"

"I'm going to build a cell you two can't get out of," she spat. "Because it occurs to me that half my trouble comes from you two doing the same damn song-and-dance."

"Oh! Kimmie cursed!"

"Funny. You should be about….."

"Hey, I found it. It's bigger than I thought. It looks like a damn truck came through here," Shego exclaimed as she clambered up into the space before her.

Kim climbed in after her, dropped her force field, and stared around with the small mini-mag she pulled from her belt.

"That's odd," she murmured, running a hand over the walls before stepping deeper into the stygian channel.

"What?"

"These walls don't look like Drakken's tunneler dug them," Kim pointed out.

"Well, duh. He was only using his laser bore..."

"No, Shego. This passage wasn't carved out by humans at all. At least, not by hand. Look at these marks, and all these crystals. I think we're in an old lava tube. But I didn't think there were any active volcanoes in this region. At least, I didn't think so," she remarked as her bright beam of light played over the crystalline walls around them.

"Just tell me how far we're down?"

"I'd say we're about close to forty, maybe forty-five kilometers down. Pretty well past the transitional barrier between the crust and the outer core. Only…..this isn't what you'd expect to find. Not this far down."

"Okay, say I don't have a clue what you're saying, and…."

"Lava tubes aside, I just realized this tunnel is way too big. Yet, no one else should have ever been down this far, Shego," she told her, turning to walk down the tunnel, and noting it had a slight upward angle. "And yet the walls seem remarkably solid, and well preserved. As if they were….kept open. And yet they're…..old. This isn't exactly a new tunnel. Someone must have dug this out of a lava tube…..a long time ago. It's probably why Drakken triggered the seismic activity. If he hit parts of this tunnel, it might have destabilized, and caused a….."

"Whatever. Will it get us out," Shego demanded.

"Well, haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what, Dr. Possible," she complained sardonically.

"The air. It's….cooler in here. Fresher."

"But if we're that far down….?"

"Exactly. Where's the fresh air coming from," Kim remarked with a frown as she looked around the tunnel.

"I just want to see the sky," the green-skinned woman complained.

"So do I," Kim said, even as she felt as much as heard the rumble behind them this time as her force field no longer insulated them from the sounds around them.

"Uh-oh," Shego rasped, looking around.

"Run," Kim shouted, and they both bolted down the tunnel, praying that whatever was giving way behind them didn't catch up to wherever they were going.

 **KP**

"Now," Jim shouted as he fired something into a power relay station, and the sparks shot out of the device like lightning.

Bonnie didn't hesitate as she lunged forward, slamming a captured stun baton into the dash of the computer console controlling whatever the bearded dwarf was trying this time.

She howled, feeling some of the feedback in spite of her insulated gloves her power suit provided, and jumped back just before the whole console just exploded.

"Ach! You foolish fraulein! Do you know what you've done?"

"Stopped you," Bonnie smirked, tossing her dark hair over one shoulder as she stepped back, eyeing the mad dwarf surrounded by fallen Henches, and Ron already moving toward him.

"This is beyond belief! I, Professor Dementor, should have won! Without Kim Possible, you should have just stayed home and _pouted_! The world would have been mine! _Mine_ ," Dementor howled at Ron.

"What can I say," Ron growled, lifting the man up by his throat. "I got bored."

His punch slammed the madman back into his own self-destructing control panel, and Ron watched dispassionately as he howled in pain as the surging energies sent him collapsing to his hands and knees, before he just fell on his face, utterly out cold.

"Okay, it's done. We got that portable fusion reactor of his unhooked, and ready for transport," Jim and Tim appeared to report just then.

"Any problems?"

"No big," the twins smirked, just as something chirped, and they both looked at their own communications device.

"That's….?"

"Let's deliver this freak, and then we'll check it out," Ron said, knowing exactly what that signal was. Or wasn't. It was, after all, something the boys had continued to work on for weeks even as Bonnie proved she was getting just as good as any of them at holding her own in the field.

Even he couldn't hide his hope, though, and not even Bonnie said nothing as they dragged Dementor out to the waiting authorities, and dropped the man in front of the local constabulary.

"He's still alive," Ron told the man who eyed Dementor's still smoldering coat. "And he has twenty men inside. Don't worry, the mutant dogs are incapacitated, and his defenses are all shut down. You can clean out the place without worry."

"You have our thanks, Mr. Stoppable," the man told him, gesturing to his men that quickly cuffed the man still in his trademark helmet. "But….what is that?"

Ron turned to see the twins loading a fat, heavy box into the back of the jet, and kept his face blank.

"Something that needs turning over to Global Justice," he told the man blandly. "For your own safety," he added, though he rather doubted the experimental fusion reactor would be going anywhere near GJ's labs anytime soon. Lately, the twins were less than trusting of them. Especially after Will Du tried to have them shut down as vigilantes when Betty Director was away on some other business after they took out DNAmy, and then defied him by letting some of her creatures escape into the wild.

Said creatures were intelligent, harmless, and yet Will had wanted them all put down. Ron refused, and Will tried to have him arrested.

Ron had not quite forgiven him for that one, either.

"Don't worry. We'll help GJ dispose of it, and you won't have to worry about any further danger from it," Ron said blandly. "Let's go, Bon," he called her. "This isn't over yet."

They were in the air, after the boys had secured the fusion reactor, when they turned to their own communications panel, and linked with an experiment being controlled from their underground lab back home.

"It did it," Jim rasped after reviewing data on the active monitor. "It really worked!"

"It," Bonnie frowned, not knowing about their project they had launched almost two months ago from right out of their back yard.

"The boys build a robot mole to….find Kim…and….and bring her home," he said quietly. "That signal means that it's reached wherever in the pit that she...fell."

"What….? Did it find…..her," Bonnie asked, looking shaken as the boys continued to study the monitor.

Bonnie looked as grim as Ron felt just then.

Just over three months ago now, the twins had finally launched the explorer they had built to seek, and find Kim. It was programmed to lock onto her genetic pattern, and give them a viable signal of where she might be. If it had sent a signal, it had to have found something.

"We have a biological signal, but….it's not a lock."

"What do you mean," Ron asked. "Don't tell me…."

"Hold on, Ron. Look. Look at everything," Tim told him, pointing at the monitor that was coming to life now after they isolated the frequency.

"I don't see much," he complained to the young genius.

"I'm cleaning up the video," Jim told him. "See it now?"

"Uh…"

"Handholds," Jim pointed out. "Handholds cut into smooth rock. Bloody ones. Kim's blood, obviously, or the genetic alarm wouldn't have sounded. But she isn't there now."

"Then….she did fall…?"

"No. Look," Jim grinned. "The signal vanished behind this rubble, but…"

Tim frowned, and pressed a button.

The rover, obviously live, backed up, and he manually adjusted a light that played over a sloped wall that had half collapsed into what seemed like a rather large tunnel.

"I didn't think anyone ever got that deep," Bonnie frowned as she realized what they were seeing on the monitors. "I thought you said the rescuers quit after they barely got halfway, and everything collapsed."

" _We_ didn't quit," the Tweebs spat. "Besides, look at that. Kim got out! Hey, look. There," he pointed when Ron and Bonnie both frowned as the light played over the sloping wall on the screen. "Those initials! As crazy as it seems…. Guys, it looks like she's following _Verne's_ story."

"His….what," Ron frowned.

"A.S., Ron. _Arne Saknussemm_! It's in Jules Verne's story! It must be true," Jim all but shouted. "And Kim found the tunnel because that's her blood on the wall near those initials. She must be following the same path now! She's _alive_!"

"Alright, sending new commands," Tim said, still working on the monitor station. "I'm sending the explorer after her. Wherever she went, it might be able to help, and it'll let her know _we_ haven't given up," the boys said, grinning ear-to-era now.

"You really think….?"

"She got out of the pit, Ron. We didn't find her body, or Shego in there. Just that blood from a carved out handhold. She must have cut her hand. But she got out, and she kept going. She must have. We just have to find her, and then figure out a way to get her back."

"Call Wade. He has to listen now," Bonnie told them, knowing the boy genius was still in mourning, and not helping anyone just then.

"Actually, _first_ we had better call dad," Jim said, glancing back at the fusion reactor.

"Yeah, the Possibles should know that….Kim may be alive," Bonnie agreed.

"Not just that," the twins grinned knowingly at Bonnie.

"We want to _borrow_ his new Keppler Probe," Tim said with a sly grin.

"His….probe?"

"Just think of the _Tunneler_ we could build with _that_ , and with Demenz' fusion reactor to power it," Jim told Ron with a genuinely manic grin. "We could follow her, and bring her home ourselves."

"Annie," Ron called out. "Take us home. Full thrust."

Bonnie howled as she ended up thrown down from the force of acceleration.

"How about a little warning next time," she shrieked at them as she fought to get back to her own seat.

The boys only grinned.

 _To Be Continued….._


	4. Chapter 4

_I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **4**

"No…way," Kim rasped, staring at the thick, lush jungle before them as they finally staggered out of the seemingly endless tunnel that just opened into what appeared to be a huge valley of some kind.

"Whoa," Shego murmured, staring up at the glowing crystal high over their heads in a very high, vaulted ceiling. "This is….. Well, I don't know what this is," she exclaimed as she looked around.

"Suddenly, I feel like Otto _Lidenbrock_!"

"Who?"

"You know? Jules Verne?"

"Okay, he was a writer, right," Shego asked.

Kim sighed.

"Professor Lidenbrock was the character that found a volcanic tube that led him to a world under the earth where…..all kinds of creatures still lived. Of course, the inferior reprint called him Hardwigg, but that wasn't the original story," Kim remarked. She knew that because of Wade, who took his science fiction seriously.

"Uh, more importantly, what kind of creatures," Shego asked, staring at the thick jungle before them.

"Uhm, dinosaurs, mostly," Kim recalled, suddenly feeling a bit nervous herself. "But still, that was just….science fiction. Emphasis on fiction."

"Right. And who thought we would find an underground jungle with a weird glowing rock in ceiling to light up this place?"

Kim said nothing to that as she walked out into the jungle, and looked around.

"There seems to be a path this way. Maybe we can find water. We definitely need some, and food, or we aren't going to be going much farther."

"I'm all for water. And a hot bath," Shego complained.

Kim rolled her eyes as she kept studying the vista before them.

"So, what happened to that book guy?"

"The professor and his friends fought their way through jungles, beasts, and other dangers, and finally found, mostly by accident, a way out," Kim informed her after a moment.

"Where," Shego asked, obviously interested.

"A volcano erupted, and spit them out in Italy," the redhead admitted with a straight face.

"I think I did see that movie," she scowled. "Only how do you get spit out by a volcano without getting baked? I never got that part."

"Let's not worry about that. Since I don't think it's too likely. Right now, let's focus on getting through here alive….."

"Alive?"

Kim didn't reply. She as staring at part of the rock wall again.

"What now," Shego complained, still not liking this new development one bit.

"Look," the redhead gestured in awe.

Shego looked.

"So, what? Someone carved their initials down here. I guess someone really was down here before us," Shego muttered.

"Shego, in the book, the professor was following the path of Arne Saknussemm, an Icelandic _mythological_ figure, who was supposed to have been the first recorded explorer down here." She pointed at the initials carved into the rock, rubbing her finger over the faint indentions that were still legible. "A.S. For Arne Saknussemm."

"Holy….unbelievable...crap," Shego muttered, staring at the old, weathered initials. "So, that book might be…..real?"

"If it was….."

"Then everything else….."

"The roar of something big echoed from far out over the valley, and Kim tensed.

"Suddenly, I'm feeling less than confident," Shego rasped. "Tell me you know what comes next? You know, like the way out?"

"Yes. We follow Arne," she said, and pointed at the arrow just visible beneath the initials that had been carved into the rock.

"Suddenly, I wish I had read more classics," Shego grimaced.

"If someone else made it, so can we," Kim told her. "Let's go. We do still need food and water, and then….."

Another distant roar interrupted her.

"I changed my mind. When we get back, I'm dropping Drew down one of his own damn holes. Head first, I swear," Shego promised her.

Kim said nothing to that as they started out across the jungle floor, and kept their eyes open.

She pointedly said nothing of the twelve foot proto-men, and all the other dangers that were also mentioned in the book.

Shego, for such a badass in their world, was very close to cracking. She could tell.

"Look at it this way," Kim finally said as they moved through the jungle, careful of every step. "I wager you'll be doubly famous when we get back, and you write up _this_ memoir."

"Princess, you get us back, and I swear, I'm retired for good. Word of honor," the green woman promised earnestly.

Kim knew Shego took her promises seriously. If she offered that one, she knew the woman was worried.

"I know a dozen scientists that would kill to trade places with you just now," Kim told her, trying to lighten the mood.

"I wish _they_ were here," Shego quipped.

Kim could only chuckle at that one as they kept moving, and she wracked her memory for every detail of that old book she had read so long ago.

What came next?

Unfortunately, while she recalled the overview of the tale, the details were hazy. It had been too long since she had read Verne. Still, she knew there was nothing in it about that giant glowing rock up in the sky. Not a word.

 **KP**

"Let me get this straight," Dr. Director asked, having been asked to personally step in when a multi-billion dollar space vehicle had inexplicably vanished from the Middleton Science Center.

With all the usual suspects currently behind bars thanks to a very effective Team Possible that had been rebooted under Ron's hand, she had her own ideas, and went right to the Possibles' house, where she found their cars parked outside the garage where a suspicious canvass-covered shape protruded from that space.

"You really think that after more than three months, Kimberly is still alive? Underground? Following some literary character's fictional journey under the crust of this planet more than…..fifty kilometers down?"

"Show her," James Possible told his boys.

They grinned, and held up a small computer that projected an overhead display that would have her own tech department drooling in envy.

"Watch carefully," she was told. "This was recorded by our explorer just seventeen hours ago."

She watched. Keeping an eye on the sidebars, and the extrapolated data even as she gaped at the apparent initials carved into rock that shouldn't have been there when they showed on the film.

"What you're showing me….. This is… It's…."

"Impossible," James asked with a knowing grin.

"You know what they say," Jim grinned.

"Do you have any solid confirmation on her current location," Betty asked as they shut down the feed.

"Not yet, but we sent the probe to bore through that tunnel that obviously collapsed after they passed, and are now inside….. Well, there," he went on, the screen now changing to show the most unlikely view of all time.

The monitor now showed her a flash of green jungle. Then nothing.

"That's it?"

"Whatever is down there shut off our video link the minute the mole left the tunnel. We're pretty sure that the explorer is still operating, but we can't get an active video signal from it any longer. That interference Wade first picked up is _really_ strong after you leave the tunnel."

Betty nodded at them, and then at James.

"And you hope that space probe can actually be refitted to take you down there," Betty mused incredulously.

"I know it can," James told her. "We have five of our best working on it now."

Dr. Director eyed the twins, glanced at the rocket scientist, and shook her head.

"You do know I still have to deal with a stolen prototype?"

"Technically, it's not stolen," Jim smirked.

"Just borrowed," Tim agreed.

"After all, it is my design," James reminded her. "They couldn't launch it anyway without my programming codes. Which…..I might have misplaced at the moment," the scientist declared with a careless shrug.

The one-eyed woman sighed, and just shook her head.

"All right. I would be the last to deny this does look like it could be another Possible miracle at work. But to cover all bases, I want to bring you in under GJ's aegis, and….."

" _No_ ," a grim, utterly implacable tone spat as Betty turned to see Ron had walked into the house, and had been standing behind her all along without her noticing.

"Ronald, we can offer….."

"More sabotage? More spite? More backstabbing?"

"What?"

"Who led the rescue teams," Ron demanded.

Betty stared at him.

" _Who_?" he barked curtly.

"Commander Du….."

"The same Du who ignored Wade, and cut into the heart of the mountain at severe _lateral_ angles, collapsing _all_ the original pits. Quite the _accident_ , don't you think? A month later, he tries to have us arrested as vigilantes after constantly undermining our missions, and then wants to confiscate our jet, _and_ our gear when we cut ties with him," Ron added.

Ron walked over and stood in front of her with just inches between them as the ninja now eyed her even more grimly.

"No," he growled again. "You let Will Du even get wind of this, and I'll…..I'll neutralize _him_. He's been trying to shut us down from the start. We have had one too many accidents even before that last sitch, and even Kim was starting to wonder about him again. You let him get anywhere near us, Dr. Director, and I will put him down," Ron told her so coldly that Betty didn't doubt him. "That is a promise," he added.

"If what you're saying is true….."

"I don't care for his reasons. I don't care what crawled up his backside this time. You, and GJ, will all stay away from this operation. If I see a single blue uniform, I'll put them down, Dr. Director. No offense, but I just don't think we can trust you with this one," Ron told her curtly.

"Is this true," James exclaimed curtly as Betty just stared at the young monkey-master who wasn't flinching from her own glare this time.

"I'll find out what is going on," Betty assured him. "Meanwhile….. Good luck. And that is sincere, gentlemen," she told them. "Because from what I recall of reading Verne myself, that underground world is a deathtrap in itself."

"If some loopy _professor_ made it, Kim can, too," Jim declared, Tim nodding in tandem.

Betty just sighed, and walked toward the door.

She paused, her hand on the knob, and looked back at Ron.

"Will Wade share his findings with me about your….other suspicions?"

"Ask him," Ron said, and said nothing more then they had only just gotten Wade back on board after the boy's shared the newest video.

The woman walked out, and they turned to eye one another, and Ron said, "Good thing the decoy worked. I spotted three GJ agents out there in stealth gear on my way in just now. They obviously still want to shut us down."

"What will you do," Anne asked them as she spoke up only then, looking hopeful for the first time in months.

"Just as we said. First, you boys get to the warehouse, and help get that machine ready to go. I'm going to find Will Du, and make sure he's too busy to bother us. Meanwhile, watch your backs. I don't know Du's problem, but he obviously has a serious issue with KP of late if he is willing to go this far," Ron remarked somberly.

"We could just take care of him next," Jim murmured coolly.

"Just leave him to me for now. Let's get going. I reread that book myself, and Dr. Director was right about one thing. It's not going to be a cakewalk even for Kim," Ron told them.

"She does have Shego with her," Anne said quietly. "Right?"

Ron only scowled at that.

"I don't think that really helps," James murmured as Ron left.

Anne said nothing to that.

 **KP**

"Time to get up," Kim told her companion as she lightly shook the woman dozing where they had finally stopped.

"Already? Jeez, and it's still light?"

"I don't think it really gets dark down here," Kim told Shego. "The crystal sun thingy. Funny how that wasn't in the book," she mused.

"Maybe they just took it for granted, or something?"

"Or chose not to remark on it. Whatever it is, it's obviously the source of whatever is interfering with getting a signal to Wade. Maybe it's why this whole bizarre ecosphere even exists," Kim speculated.

"Because your Nerdlinger is going to be so much help down here even if you could talk to him," Shego muttered sourly, and sat up to stare around with bleary eyes.

Kim sighed, then pointed.

"Come on, I found breakfast," the redhead informed her.

Shego forced herself to her feet, and eyed the huge berries the size of large grapefruits that Kim pointed out.

"Are you sure….?"

"They're fine. In fact, I think they described in the book, too. They're delicious, by the way," Kim added, pulling one off the bush, and handing it to her. "I think I finally found the lake, too."

"Lake?"

"Yeah," Kim nodded, ripping into the bittersweet fruit, and taking a large bite. "Well, lake, sea, or whatever. It's water."

She swallowed several mouthfuls before she went on.

"In the story, the explorers found themselves on a beach. I think that's where we are. A narrow part of the beach," Kim told her.

"Narrow?"

"Well, compared to what's probably still out there. We get across the lake, and we should reach the main valley, and the tunnels on the far side that….hopefully….take us back home," she told her, not adding that it was also where all the big, and really dangerous creatures were reportedly located.

Aside from those in the lake.

"So, how do we get across this lake?"

"We'll have to build a raft," Kim admitted.

Shego sighed, and went back to eating.

"Don't give up, Shego. We'll make it."

"Have I ever said how much I really hate that cheerful optimism of yours," she grumbled.

Kim eyed her.

"I'd like to think it's kept us alive this far," the redhead smiled.

Shego paused in eating her third berry, eyed her for a moment, and then shook her head.

"Nope. Still hating it. You just keep thinking your happy thoughts, Princess. I'll just keep focusing on all the things I'm going to do to Dr. D when I get back."

"You said _when_ ," Kim grinned at her.

"Oh, just stuff it, Possible," she growled, and turned to pick another berry.

Just about the time something roared again.

"So, how do we build that raft," she asked uneasily.

"Don't worry. I think we're hearing echoes from across the lake," Kim told her.

Shego stared at her again.

"The same place we are trying to go," the green-skinned woman asked uneasily.

"Yep," Kim smiled.

"The same place filled with your storybook monsters?"

"Probably."

"Snap. I so did not see ending up as some monster's snack."

"We won't," Kim told her firmly.

Shego said nothing to that as they went to the shallow creek they had found to wash down her meal, and then followed Kim back into the jungle to start gathering material for a raft.

She was trying very hard not to think of the things Kim had eventually said about the lake.

Very hard.

 _To Be Continued…._


	5. Chapter 5

_I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **5**

Ron dropped off the roof even as the figure in an obvious stealth-cloak moved to crawl under the canvas in the Possible garage.

Just after midnight, and as if on cue, the shape registering on Ron's IFR visor had come out of the night, and headed right for the decoy Dr. Possible and the twins had set up just for this purpose. He waited, then watched the figure come out from under the canvas, and look around.

He could guess that if he had seen a face, the man would have been very confused just then.

After all, the decoy was a real metal shell, just possessing none of the electronics, or components that would have given the shell purpose. It was actually the backup to the experimental probe that Dr. Possible had designed, and yet to complete beyond the outer housing.

Still, it had worked as a lure all the same.

Ron moved to intercept the figure, and slammed him back into the garage with a hard kick before the man realized he was there.

He didn't need a digital cloak to mask his presence. Years of practice since that first misadventure with Monkey Fist had honed his ninja skills as nothing else.

He moved to put a boot on the still virtually invisible figure, and growled, "Shut it down. I see you anyway."

The cloaked agent shimmered, and a burly man in blue appeared before Ron, his face unfamiliar, but his uniform more than recognizable.

"I'm in a really bad mood tonight. So, you have one chance of getting out of this without seeing ICU, or the morgue," Ron said so grimly the agent shuddered. "Talk."

"What can I tell you," the man blurted without hesitation.

"You know what to say. Who sent you, and why," he demanded.

The man's lips thinned as they almost vanished into a pale slash across his jaw he bit them so hard.

"Your choice. But I guarantee you, G-Jerk. When I hurt people these days," he growled ominously, "They _stay_ hurt."

"All right," the man's hands went up when Ron started to reach for something on his belt.

"Talk," Ron hissed.

"Commander Du suspected you had….ulterior motives in confiscating this vehicle. We were to ensure it wouldn't be operable anytime soon until we could….."

"Ulterior motives," Ron spat. "We're trying to _rescue_ KP! Kim Possible," he went on. "Don't you get the part where we are the good guys?"

The man said nothing.

"Well?"

"I…. I only do what I'm told," the man whined as Ron moved his foot, but only to reach for the man.

"Now, you just sound like a Hench," he spat irritably, and lifted him in his hands to slam him against the wall, scattering tools left behind by the Possibles. "Let's keep talking," he suggested, and his eyes glittered with a faint blue as he smiled.

Only it was a smile that had the agent whimpering all the more.

 **KP**

"Tell me again we're going the right way," Shego panted, running for her life from the very big lizard currently chasing the pair of them as they left the edge of the lake behind, along with the raft that had barely gotten them across that lake that proved to be more obstacle course than water park.

First, they had barely managed to find the right trees to fell. Then they had to end up spending what felt like days weaving vines to tie said trees together. Meanwhile, Kim wove a few baskets to carry some of that fruit with them, water not being an issue since the lake seemed as clear and clean as the creek. Besides, Kim had also found a few gourds she fashioned into canteens

Not that they had any choice but to risk drinking what water they found. It was that, or nothing.

Finally, shoving off with a makeshift sail, and a couple of crude paddles, they started out only to run into the mother of all sea monsters, and only a few plasma balls ruined its appetite for human sushi. That was followed by a sudden storm that came out of nowhere, and almost swamped them more than once when joined by very large, very toothy wannabe trout. Yet another sea snake popped up soon after, and finally, after what seemed days to get to shore, they had barely unloaded their provisions when big, green, and scaly had stomped out of the trees, and eyed them for lunch.

This one was so big her plasma only pissed it off.

Cue the chase scene.

"What now," Shego rasped, grateful she was in such good shape just then.

"We split up, try to confuse it. Look to your right. We'll meet by that really big tree sticking up out of the forest after we lose this thing. Ready?"

"Hell, no," Shego admitted, and bolted to the right.

Kim turned left, and the lizard followed her, crashing through the increasingly thick underbrush as the redhead now turned to seek the thickest trees and brush to give her an edge.

Shego couldn't help but look back as she hoped her one real change of getting out of this one alive wasn't about to be a museum reject's lunch. She even considered going after her, but even as she loped another few feet, pausing to catch her breath, she realized that Kim had drawn the lizard away from her, and she could finally rest.

She looked around, took her bearings, and headed for the near-distant tree.

"Princess better not get eaten," she grumbled as she caught her breath, and began walking now that nothing was chasing her. "Or we're both going to be in trouble."

 **KP**

"Snap," Shego swallowed hard when she finally walked into a wide, artificial glen around the huge tree that would have made a Sequoia look like a twig.

Sitting around the massive tree that had openings in it like caves carved out for dwellings, were dozens of near-human creatures that could easily pass for movie cavemen. Real, burly, muscular, bigger-than-life cavemen. Still, they weren't the twelve foot giants Kimmie had mentioned, so maybe they would be friendly.

"Uh, I come in peace," she said quietly, holding up her hands when they all looked her way.

The females she saw quickly withdrew to the tree while the men formed a solid mass of armed muscle aimed her way.

A mass of muscle armed with clubs, stone knives, and some very vicious-looking hooked spears of some kind.

Swallowing hard, she kept her hands up, and stayed in place, not moving forward, or back.

"Friend. You understand friend? I'm really just trying to get home. You know? Home. Up there," she pointed.

All eyes followed her gesture, but all they saw was that giant, glowing diamond in the sky.

One of the cave-types frowned at her, and said something that did not sound even remotely friendly.

Right before he raised his spear.

Shego yelped, dodging the airborne projectile, and smashing a suddenly glowing hand down to bisect the spear before it could impale her.

The men howled, and charged at her.

Shego cursed, and lit both hands as she tensed, knowing she was going to have make a stand this time, or Princess might never find her.

If the idiot redhead was still alive.

 **KP**

Kim glanced around the forest beneath her, and carefully jumped to another branch before stopping again, and looking around again.

"So far, so good," she murmured quietly.

Very, very quietly.

She had seen two more of the lizards like the first she had escaped earlier, but getting back to the tree she had pointed out to Shego had been proving tricky. It was almost as if the reptiles were local guard dogs, and seemed determined to keep anyone from getting too close to that part of the forest.

Funny, that atypical behavior wasn't in the book either.

She hoped Shego was all right, but realized the green-skinned woman was a survivor. While she might be uneasy just now, she had little doubt that Shego could, and would come through when it mattered. Self-interest was just too central to her being, and survival was about as core as you get when it came to their current sitch.

She paused to eat fruit from a nearby branch on the next tree she jumped to, not risking the ground just then.

For all she knew, there was some way the lizards were sensing anyone on the ground. Stranger things could happen, she knew all too well. Because it did seem that they popped up every time she tried to return to the ground to backtrack Shego.

She nibbled on the oversized plum-like fruit she had found, and hoped her unlikely companion was doing all right.

Finishing her impromptu meal, she turned, and gauged her next target.

To keep going in the direction she needed, she'd have to drop to the ground again. When she did, she suspected she was going to end up drawing company again, too. Especially if her guess was right. The curious thing was why the reptile had targeted her, and not Shego. Why had the animal seemed to fixate on her, while all but ignoring Shego until she had angered it with her plasma? When they split, it was even odds on who it might follow.

Yet she had been watching, and that first reptile had followed after her without hesitation.

Why?

She ran a hand through her hair, more dirty, than not, and grimaced.

Surely not something as simple as hair color?

Then she eyed her wrist.

"Of course," she murmured, and held up her Kimmunicator.

She had been running a steady signal beacon, hoping that Wade might somehow pick up a stray signal, and put things together. Maybe the device was acting like a homing beacon in more than expected ways, and drawing the animals around her to it? Like a dog whistle for giant reptiles?

She shut down the Kimmunicator, not even using her battle-suit just then anyway, and then switched off all its systems, not even leaving the watch display on. After all, time was hardly an issue down here just now.

Okay. So if her theory was right, then maybe she could slip past the reptilian guard dogs now. At least, she hoped so.

Dropping to the ground, she glanced around, hearing, and seeing nothing that might betray the charge of a forty ton eating machine.

Taking her bearings again, she headed for the big, monster-sized tree she had seen earlier, and wondered why something so obvious wasn't mentioned in the book. Then again, it seemed that Verne's adventurers had left a lot out.

One had to wonder why.

 **KP**

"Are you kidding me," Ron sputtered.

"No. That's all I know, I swear," the sweating agent said as he backed away from Ron after the monkey master had let him go to just scowl at him.

"How come Dr. Director didn't mention this before now," he demanded.

"Du….kept it even from her. He was afraid she wouldn't see the necessity of….the sacri….fice…"

Ron was getting angrier now, and turned, and eyed the man.

"Let's go."

"Go," the man literally whimpered.

"That's right. You're going to see Dr. Director now. You're going to tell her exactly what you told me. Then you're going lead us right to Will Du, and whoever else he's working with."

"I can't…."

"Or I will break you into very tiny pieces, and go find Du myself," he added, his usually brown eyes glittering with bright blue just then.

"Any… Anything you say, Mr. Stoppable," the man grimaced.

"I thought you would say that," he smirked, and dragged the man after him.

 **KP**

Will Du opened the door the moment someone knocked, using the knock he had contrived for his own mission, and stared at his man who looked less than happy. Or successful.

In fact, he looked not unlike someone had put him through a literal wringer, and then shoved him back through for a second turn.

He started to question the agent even as a shadow moved behind the man, and Ron Stoppable all but flung the agent down into the room, and eyed Will with a cold glitter in his eyes.

"We need to talk, Du," Ronald told her curtly, but didn't close the still open door.

"Oh, yes," another spoke as he grimaced at the one-eyed woman standing behind Ron, and slowly closing the door. "We definitely need to talk."

"Dr. Director….."

"Tell me something, Du. Is it true you've been pointedly targeting Team Possible for an outside agency? Is it true that you are now playing _assassin,"_ she demanded curtly.

"I….. I had no choice," he told her. "We had no choice."

"You'd better explain that one, Du, before I decide to leave you to Stoppable."

Will grimaced, but stiffened his back, and squared his shoulders in a way that always annoyed Kim. When his jaw rose just that degree, Ron was ready to just backhand him.

"It started last year," he finally told her.

"What did," Ron demanded.

"First of all, you have to understand that I really am trying to save the world here," Will told them. "From Kim Possible."

"Say what," Ron sputtered.

"Let me explain, Dr. Director. Last year, while going over some of the wreckage we were sifting from the Lorwardian debris, a piece of it activated."

"I didn't think Lorwardian tech would work without….."

"Wade can make it run," Ron told the head of GJ. "I'm betting there are likely a few other bright brainiacs out there that could figure it out, too."

"Maybe," Will Du told them. "But the signal wasn't from Earth. It was from space. I triple-checked….."

"Of course you did," Ron muttered.

"Ronald," Dr. Director cut him off. "Go on, Du."

"The signal came from _them._ The aliens. They were furious over Possible beating two of their apparent best, and informed me that if Team Possible weren't executed, they would send an even greater fleet to destroy the entire planet," Will told them.

"Are you insane," Ron hissed.

"Calm yourself," Dr. Director cut him off. "Agent Du, why would they even care about a handful of heroes if they could obliterate our planet anyway?"

"Uh, well," the agent grimaced, "I asked just that very thing. Honestly. They said they would disregard our world if those that shamed their warriors were….eliminated. I felt, in the interest of interplanetary peace…."

"Can I hit him now," Ron grumbled furiously.

"Patience, Ronald," Betty advised. "Tell me, Will. Do these….aliens still communicate with you?"

"Occasionally. They heard of Possible being….lost….."

"Because you….!"

"Ronald," Dr. Director stepped between them. "Recall your own efforts. Focus there. Du, how do you contact them?"

"They….call me. I can't contact them myself. They only seem to call when they want to confirm something."

"Like Kim being….lost? Or Ron's new team hunting Kimberly?"

"Well, yes," Will nodded at her queries.

"Even I know that's pretty damn good intelligence for aliens supposedly billions of light years away. Unless they have a spy telling them every damn thing we do," Ron swore.

"Indeed," Dr. Director nodded. "Where is you communications device, Du?"

"It's….in the next room," he pointed out. "But it doesn't work unless they…."

"Can you get him to help," Dr. Director asked pointedly as she eyed Ron.

"Wade, got a sitch, buddy," Ron called the brains behind Team Possible without hesitation, which surprised the head of GJ who had last heard Wade had gone dark. "Turns out Will Du has been listening to….someone. We need to know who, and where," he said, and plugged his communicator into the device Will led them to in the next room that was filled with monitors and computer gear.

"I'm telling you, it won't do you any good….."

"Got it," a much more somber Wade told Ron as he worked for only seconds before he looked up on the screen. "I traced a satellite hack through NASA to a small island off New Zealand. Looks like a small outpost there, but I think they are all human, though. No aliens detected anywhere."

"What," Will rasped.

"You got played," Ron spat. "I'm calling the boys. We'll find out who they are, and….."

"No. Get back to your team, and launch that tunneler before anyone else can stop you," Dr. Director told him. "GJ will find, and clean out these….invaders. Trust me, Ronald. We are still on the same team."

"And him," Ron asked as he eyed Will.

"Agent Du is about to be fully debriefed by my own elite team. Before we consider his….future."

Will swallowed hard as Ron put his communicator away, and looked more than uneasy.

"I did what I thought best….."

"I would just shut up now, if I were you," Ronald said coldly as he eyed the stiffly scowling man. "Okay, I'm trusting you, Dr. Director. Just yell if you do need help before we….leave."

"Go. Just in case these people have their own contingency plans," Dr. Director pointed out.

"Right. Right. Just make sure this rule-spouting idiot doesn't get anywhere near us anytime soon. Or _he_ might get….lost," Ron spat before he stormed from the small office building that Will had been using as his own secret lair.

"Let's go, Du," Dr. Director growled. "You, too, Hanson," she barked at the agent as they returned to the next room. "You two are going to be doing a lot of explaining before this night is over."

"I was just doing…."

 _"Not_ an excuse," Elizabeth Director snapped, and cut the man off.

"Orders, ma'am," another man in GJ uniform appeared as she headed for her own transport, noting Ron had already disappeared.

"Clean out that office, and once you have all the available data, destroy everything. _Everything,_ Agent Grit," she told her agent.

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded, and led his men inside as Will and his partner followed Dr. Director to her jet.

 _To Be Continued….._


	6. Chapter 6

_I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **6**

Kim finally reached the towering tree picked for their rendezvous without too much trouble, and gaped as she found Shego sitting near a fire, eating hungrily from some kind of bone covered with seared meat as the roughly dressed females around her tended her like a queen.

Around the clearing beneath the tree were at least a score of men in the same furs as the women. Only they were all unconscious, and some of them looked badly scorched. Shego sat eating with a typical expression of smug satisfaction on her visage as Kim approached her.

"I see you're still making friends," Kim remarked as the women tensed, and backed away from the stranger in the faded white bodysuit that had appeared out of the forest around them just then.

"Hey, it's a gift," Shego grinned up at her.

"I'll bet. You do know they aren't going to be happy when they wake up," she pointed out as she squatted near the fire, keeping an eye on the women that she guessed could likely be formidable themselves if they wanted to be. Or so Kim felt judging from their musculature.

"If they can't cooperate, I'll just bash them again until they get the message," Shego smirked. "Want some," she asked, gesturing at the meat on a woven matt near where she sat. "I don't know what it is, but it's not bad."

Kim eyed the meat, noted the thick bone in some of it, and shrugged.

"I am hungry. Running away from those creatures left me with little time to forage."

"Monsters," Shego frowned. "As in plural," she asked darkly.

"Yeah," Kim grimaced, and reached for a piece of seared flesh that was smaller than most as the primitive females eyed her warily. "I no more lost one, than another seemed to pop up to take its place. I think, and it's admittedly a theory, that they were fixating on my Kimmunicator beacon."

"Say what," Shego sputtered, eyeing her left wrist now.

"Don't worry. I shut it down. Since then, I haven't seen one of them, and hopefully that was it."

"Why would they even….?"

"Well, I think it was like a hypersonic whistle to them. A little like a dog whistle, or something. At least, that is my theory. I just know that when I shut the Kimmunicator down, it seems like I was able to lose them for good," Kim explained.

"Swell. So you have your very own monster whistle," Shego muttered sourly, and took another bite of the roasted meat.

Kim looked around, and eyed the offerings, and noted the women still weren't getting too close.

"So, they just gave you food?"

"Well, I kicked their friends' butts, and after a minute or two, one of them offered me a meal. I didn't decline," Shego nodded at her.

"Right. So, uh, see anything else on your way here? Anything….?"

"Helpful? Nope, not a thing. I was just hoping you didn't get yourself eaten when I ran into these guys. From the looks of it, they must use this tree like some kind of clubhouse. I didn't bother going inside, though. Too easy for someone to use it to ambush you."

"Now you're being paranoid," Kim muttered, and finally took a bite of the meat.

"What do you think," Shego asked as the redhead bit into the meat she had taken.

"Gamey. Not too tough. Almost like….bear."

"Bear," Shego echoed. "I may not know a lot of science, but I do know that this is no bear bone," Kim was told as Shego held up the long, thick bone obviously broken off from a longer limb.

"No. No, it's not. I just said like bear, though. Frankly, I can't imagine….."

"Kim?"

Kim rose slowly, still chewing as she walked toward that wide opening in the trunk of the tree, paying little attention to the females that gave way, but kept wary eyes on her.

"Shego," she said quietly. "I think I know what it might be. And I also don't think we're the first ones through here since Lidenbrock."

"What are you talking…?"

Shego rose, and walked into the mouth of the tree behind Kim as the muscular women just stood back, watching.

Just inside, on what amounted to a grizzly altar, were rows upon rows of skulls. Some near human. Some animal. Some very obviously modern humans.

"I did not need to see this," Shego said grimly as she eyed the skulls all set around the huge skull of an elephantine animal with a broken tusk.

Kim took another bite of the meat, and eyed the central skull.

"Mastodon," she finally nodded.

"What?"

"Verne's adventurers found mastodons herded by the giant primates. These people may hunt them, too. I sure don't see them hunting those reptiles," Kim pointed out.

"Well, how do we know they aren't cannibals," Shego complained. "I mean….those skulls didn't come from a hobby shop," she spat.

Kim eyed the strange, layered altar, and looked back to the females still standing back from them, and looked around the dimly lit interior of the huge tree. There seemed to thin branches like makeshift ladders that led up into the shadowy interior, but there was nothing before them but that huge altar with the many skulls. Some obviously very old. Some disturbingly new.

"Strange," Kim finally remarked.

"What," Shego asked, looking very disturbed by the bones.

"Well, if there are that many people getting lost down here, you would think we would have heard…."

"If they got lost, how would anyone know?"

"Well, someone would have had to miss them," Kim frowned. "Surely someone would have said something….?"

"Not if they didn't know. How many people go missing all the time, and are never found, Kimberly," Shego called her without the usual nicknames. Which told Kim Shego was really nervous.

"Still, not all of them. Someone would have had to miss them. Someone would have surely left word behind before they…..came here."

"Maybe they did. Maybe someone shut them up," Shego asked.

"Why would anyone…."

"Look, Kim, I don't know. How this place works? Don't know. How anyone ever found it? Don't know. Don't care. All that matters is we find the way out. Because I am not ending up one of their damn wall ornaments," Shego spat, and flung her nearly empty bone aside as she turned, and stalked back outside.

The women made way for her as Shego stalked out, and Kim took a deep breath, and walked back out to join the woman.

"You said I deserved it."

"What?"

"When you pushed me in that pit," Kim told her as she sat beside Shego now, and looked at her rather than the fire which Shego was staring at just then. "You said I deserved it. Why would you say that?"

Shego glared at her, then returned her gaze back to the fire.

"I'd really like to know. Did I make you mad, or something."

"Or something," Shego muttered.

"Want to talk about it."

"No," Shego spat, but didn't look away from the fire.

"Shego, I was really surprised to see you back there with Drakken again. Him snapping, again, I could predict that one a mile off. Two miles. You going back to that insanity surprised me, though. Why don't you explain it for me?"

Shego just grunted.

"Please?"

Shego didn't make a sound now. She just stared at the fire.

"What else do we have to do just now," Kim asked suggestively.

"Oy," Shego groaned. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

Kim smiled at her.

"Why start now?"

"Oy," Shego groaned again.

"I really would like to know."

"When did you graduate, _Doctor_ Possible," Shego demanded.

"I'm not really a doctor yet," Kim told her. "I only have my Master's so far, and…"

 _"When_ did you graduate," Shego echoed.

"Okay, a year ago," Kim replied.

"You didn't invite me. You invited the cyclops, and half the world, but not me," Shego huffed, sounding hurt.

"Shego…."

"I thought we were friends. You…. You didn't even ask."

"I did try to invite you. I even called Drew. He claimed he couldn't find you. Then, suddenly you're back with him, and…."

Kim shook her head, and eyed her again.

"I would have put an advert out if I had known it meant that much to you. Ask Ron if you don't believe me. I did try to find you. You're just….hard to find when you're not with Drew. Or Drakken. Or whoever he thinks he is these days."

Shego grumbled.

"Shego?"

"I said that blue freak claimed he hadn't heard from you since the U.N. thing," Shego muttered just a little louder. "Are you telling me all of this is….because of a misunderstanding?"

"You tell me," Kim sighed. "I really did think you would anchor yourself, and pull me out."

"Great," Shego huffed. "So we were both idiots."

Kim didn't reply to that one.

"So, what were you doing? Before you went back to Drakken?"

"Laying low. I was doing a lot of remuneration work for certain….parties. Then blue-boy called me up, claimed to have a real job, and offered me a half million for site security. I should have known better. Just because his stupid mutagen helped some agri-corps didn't mean he had gotten suddenly competent. Gah! I cannot believe I am right back in the middle of this mess because…."

She gave a wordless cry, and rose to her feet, glaring around her.

"If he were here right now, so help me, he'd be ash. No, he wouldn't even be ash. He'd _be...gone,"_ she thundered as plasma fluttered up and down her arms.

Kim noted the females around them had backed off again, and she got the feeling they had already seen Shego's temper at work. Considering not one of the males around them was even trying to stir just then, she could guess how that temper had been shown.

"So, we both messed up," Kim told her. "You might want to calm down now, though, so we don't lose our only potential help here."

Shego looked at the pale, uneasy females cringing from her, and sighed.

"Story of my life," she muttered. "I can't even vent without hurting someone. You ever try to have a temper when your own emotions can turn lose plasma that melts steel," she complained.

Kim didn't even try to answer.

"No," Shego retorted, and sat back down. "Of course you haven't. You can't begin to understand," she said, quenching her plasma with conscious effort.

"No. I don't. I have had to be careful when enforcing that no meant no to certain….admirers, though. Sometimes, it was very hard not to….break something."

Shego smirked now.

"I'll bet. So, you and Ronnie really broke up?"

"We were more brother and sister than not. Hard to find a spark when you feel like you're hugging a sibling," the redhead sighed, sitting beside her now, and glancing surreptitiously around to not the females were apparently relaxing, too.

"Yeah, that can be icky. So, no sparks? I always wondered about that one."

"Really?"

"Well, there's no denying Stoppable has his own mojo, but he was more the goofy friend type even at his best. Or that was how I saw him. I can't really see him as genuine lover material."

Kim giggled.

"He tried. He really tried. Only his idea of romance….."

She paused and giggled again.

"Not quite out of the public school arena?"

"Not even out of the kiddie pool," Kim chuckled. "I once spent two hours watching him try to get me a stuffed bear out of a claw machine. He was determined to get it, too."

"Did he?"

"Not even close," she sighed.

"Wow. And I thought some of my dates were losers."

"Ron isn't…. Well, he's earnest," she sighed. "And he was always there. Someday, he'll probably make some girl feel very lucky. It just wasn't me," she admitted.

"A lot of people thought Drewbie and I were an item. Especially after that alien dealie," Shego grumbled. "What was worse, was blue-boy decided after hearing the rumors that there was something to them. You do not want to know his idea of romance."

"That bad?"

"Why do you think I took off at the start?"

"Ron used to take me to restaurants, and order from the kids' menus," Kim sighed.

"Drew had his mother propose for him," Shego grumbled.

Kim stared, jaw dropping in earnest, and slowly began to shake her head.

"I swear to God. I'm cleaning out my room in his lair after I decided I was just going to bail, and the next thing I know, his mother is coming over to propose in his name. Neither of them seemed to see the problem with it, either. If that isn't messed up…."

Kim tried to stifle a smirk now, but couldn't quite manage it. Then a giggle slipped out.

"I'm sorry. I am. It's just, having met his mother, and his cousin Ed, I have to say that whole family is full of nuts," Kim told her.

"No argument," Shego muttered.

"But still. Having his mother propose…?"

"Trust me, I still cringe every time I think about it."

"Yet you did still come back to him."

"In my defense, I was offered half a mill, and I did think it was genuine site security for some new breakthrough the moron might have accidentally managed."

"And when you figured it out?"

"You had already showed up, and cued up the same old dance before I could even think of explaining."

"Well, hell," Kim frowned.

"Oooooo, Kimmie almost cursed," Shego sniggered.

"I just mean, if I had known….none of this had to happen. We could have just walked away, after grabbing Drakken, and nothing else had to…."

"Hey, it's Drakken," Shego finally said after a long, stiff silence. "Things always happen around that moron. Bad things. I recall the time he put over half his Henches in the hospital when he tried to make his own health supplements, and forced the guys to take them."

"I'd ask if you were joking, but…."

"Yeah. That was the year I put no experimenting on the help in my contract. I had to really push that one, though. Doc tended to have a very convenient short-term memory."

"I don't doubt it."

"So, almost-doctor Possible. What now," Shego asked as they noted that most of the females were now going inside, and one was now banking the fire, carefully watching Shego. Another was taking that woven mat with the meat inside.

A few of the men were starting to wake, too, but the only one that was fully awake had only sit up to stare at them in confusion. Along with a very understandable degree of wariness.

"Looks like they're rolling up the welcome mat, and getting ready to retire. So, again, what now," Shego asked, keeping her own eyes on the men starting to come around.

"Well, we both need to rest, but I'm not sure about sleeping around these guys. I'm thinking what I really want to do, though, is get to the top of this tree. We should be able to really get the lay of the land, and figure out our next step from there."

"So, do we climb it out here, or try their….inside steps," Shego asked, noting a lot of the women were now disappearing up those ladder branches, and the men waking the others were also withdrawing without even bothering them after they reclaimed the few weapons she had not outright destroyed earlier.

"I'm going up on my grapple," she told her. "Like you said, it might be a little too easy to get ambushed, or something else in there. Still, the fact these guys are pulling back without hesitation suggests that staying out here on the ground might be a bad idea."

"More lizards," Shego grimaced.

"Or something," she said, and stood up.

She looked up, and then pointed.

"That branch looks high enough, and wide enough to be safe. We'll use that for tonight, but I want to go up as high as I can, and see what I can see since…. Well, it doesn't seem to get dark here."

Even as Shego rose, noting the fire was just about gone by then, she heard a near-distant roar from a familiar monster, and grimaced.

"Right. Let's get up there now, shall we," she asked uneasily.

"Hang on," Kim said, and pulled out her grapple from her belt before firing it.

An instant later, they were up on the wide, thick branch, but ironically hidden from the ground since it was so big. Shego pointedly stayed close to the center, and didn't bother looking down. "I'll grab some leaves, and stuff, and see about making a bed," she told Kim as Kim kept looking up, and began to carefully climb up the huge tree.

"Okay. Hopefully I'll see something to make tomorrow a little easier."

Shego paused to give the redhead an expressive look, but didn't say a word as the other woman vanished up into the thick boughs over her head.

 _To Be Continued…._


	7. Chapter 7

_I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **7**

"This is going to be a dangerous outing, so no one who isn't willing to risk it needs to come," Ron told the team as the family and friends helping them surrounded the sleek, angular rocket turned tunneler.

"Oh, I'm going," James Possible declared firmly. "Frankly, you might need me for any repairs."

"As if," Jim and Tim complained.

"I don't doubt you boys are getting good," their father grinned. "But let's face it, you still don't have my experience with the systems that fill this baby to the gills just now."

"Well, while I didn't mind helping you outfit, and prep the digger," Wade told them, packing up a modular tool chest he reduced to the size of a shoebox before putting it away into a backpack. "I think I'll stay on top of the planet. Someone has to keep an eye on Global Justice," he added pointedly.

"Especially lately," Ron agreed.

"I'm going," Bonnie told them. "I might not be able to do much, but I'm still part of Team Possible, and I am going to do whatever I can to help bring Kim back."

"Word," Felix nodded at her. "But I'll stay up here, too, and monitor you as best I can, and stay in touch as long as you can manage to help guide you," he told the others.

"Well, while you may need a doctor," Ann Possible said ruefully, "I don't think I am really all that cut out for these kinds of things."

"Honey, no one expects…."

"Just hold it right there," Ann cut off her husband. "You just find our girl, and bring her back home. I'll be waiting, and have the best care available if she needs it when you get back."

"Count on us, Mrs. Dr. P," Ron told her. "We won't come back without KP."

"You really think you can find her," Ann asked quietly now.

"No big," Jim smirked.

"Yeah, mom. Our remote mole-bot has a serious genetic program to find and lock on Kim's distinct genetic code, and it is programmed to adapt and survive in any conceivable environment. If we get close enough, we should pick up its signal again, and that in turn will lead us right to Kim," Tim grinned.

"Sounds like a plan," Ron nodded.

"So, let's get going. Before anything else tries to stop us," James said pointedly, having ducked a few dubious Henches himself on his way to the boys' new warehouse headquarters for the new Team Possible.

So far, no one actually knew its location except those present. That didn't mean they couldn't be found. They just didn't want to be found before they could launch. They might have a few defenses, but nothing like back home.

Yet.

That was something else the boys fully intended to rectify in time.

Just now, however, finding and rescuing their sister was their primary goal.

"Okay, everyone, load up," James told them as Wade had already disappeared. "Dr. Renton," he nodded at Felix, keep your eyes open, and don't let anyone sneak up on you."

"Count on it, Dr. Possible," he told him as he slid his new EM chair on electromagnetic thrusters over to the main console away from the launching platform that angled the probe downward. "Just remember, you have to cross the globe laterally to reach the point where Kim fell just to follow her. So keep the heading constant, and the new gyro-compass I fixed for you should keep track of direction in spite of any magnetic interference."

"Sounds good, son," James said, and then turned, and hugged his wife. "Be back before you know it," he smiled confidently, kissing her lightly.

"Too late," Ann rasped, and felt the faint degree of hope growing in her heart as she prayed they could actually pull off another Possible miracle, as some reporters called Kimberly's at times phenomenal luck. "Just find her, James. Don't leave her down there."

"You know I won't."

"We won't," Jim and Tim agreed.

"Everyone inside," Ron said, and climbed in the hatch. "It's time to get going. Before our mystery men do try to show up themselves since they have to know Will blew it."

"We'll take care of them when we get back," Tim huffed as they all climbed into the tunneler.

"If GJ doesn't actually do the job this time," Bonnie asked, ensuring she was buckled in tightly as Ron closed the hatch, and Dr. Possible took the pilot's seat.

The twins took over navigation and communications, and the air began to hum as things were turned on around them.

"Yeah, right. We'll take care of them," Jim said. "GJ, or not. No one touches a Possible. No one," that last was said in stereo.

"Focus, boys," James said, "I'm priming the engines now, so let's hope that fusion reactor you picked up is up to snuff."

"Rockets are go," the twins grinned.

James Possible laughed, and the engines and bore began to hum with life even as he heard Felix' voice over the radio.

"Looking good out here, Team," he called them. "Everything green?"

"Launching now," James replied with an excited grin, and shoved the yoke forward as he claimed, "This is almost as exciting as going into space!"

Bonnie couldn't help but shudder as she saw the monitors and open ports suddenly darken as they slid down into the rock beneath the warehouse, and keep going.

"Don't worry, Bon," Ron told her, sitting beside her now, and patting her hand. "We're going to be fine."

"Can you tell the future now," she asked uneasily.

"No. But I know we had the best brains on the planet put this thing together, and we have the best qualified people here to run it for us. All we have to do is find Kim, and we can all go home," Ron told her firmly.

"I read that book you gave me," she said quietly. "If even half of that was real, how are they going to be able to survive down there long enough for us to…?"

"Just remember, this is still KP," Ron smiled now. "When has she ever given up just because things were a little hard?"

"You got me there," Bonnie had to admit. "I…. I really do hope we find her alive. It's just…"

"Thanks to dad, I could probably give you odds, but like I said, Kim has never been about odds. She breaks them every time she goes out. Every time. I'm betting we are all counting on her to do it again. We just have to be there to help her when she's ready to do it."

"I hope you're right," Bonnie told him quietly. "I really hope you're right."

Ron didn't comment to that as the tunneler continued to dive into the rock beneath the surface, angling toward a rendezvous that was at least three months old.

 **~KP~**

Kim balanced precariously near the very apex of the huge tree that occupied the apparent center of the wide, endless forest around them. She stared around her as best she could, but even with the diamond-sun lighting the world as far as she could see, she wasn't sure how to pick a path. She pulled out a telescoping monocular from her equipment belt, and opened it up to study the forest's farthest edges, and still saw nothing at first.

Until she looked in one direction, and saw a sheer, rocky cliff that seemed to rise out of the sea of green, and rise beyond her field of vision. She noted that direction, which her compass refused to mark considering it was still spinning crazily, and giving her no help. She looked around, and eventually spotted the far edge of the underground sea they had crossed. The flanking edges stretched out as far as the forest, and gave no real clue as to what else might be out there. She sighed, and looked back to the cliff.

Perspective, like everything else here was skewed, so she had no idea just how far the rock wall might be. Or if there were any tunnels in that rock that might take them home. Still, it was a chance, and the only one that she could conjure just then. Putting her gear away, she began to climb down when she heard another of those reptilian beasts roar not far off.

Whatever else, she had to consider how unfriendly this world was to people in general.

How others had found, and traversed it was nothing short of miraculous. She had no doubt, though, that Verne's telling had left quite a lot out. What Saknussemm himself might have had to say was lost to time. His only contribution was a vague reference to alchemy, and his own mostly anecdotal explorations around, and through the globe. Nothing was left of whatever findings he made, and Verne had been more focused on his heroes getting out without injury. Why the censoring, though? Who did the censoring, she also now wondered. Verne, or his apparent heroes? Just now, she would have enjoyed a few more answers, but she wasn't going to give up.

Others had made this fantastic journey, and if they did, so could she. _They,_ since Shego was apparently still with her. Even if the woman was obviously still not feeling very confident at the moment. This was obviously far out of her usual comfort zone, and it had to take a toll on her.

Kim would never admit that she was feeling more than a little uneasy herself. Still, that cliff wall gave her some hope, and that was enough. Sometimes, that hope was all she needed.

Climbing back down, she found Shego already nestled into a bed of thick leaves taken from the branches around them. "You look comfortable," she remarked as she climbed down to the branch they were sheltering on, and sat down to pull off her boots.

"Sure you want to do that," Shego asked quietly as she watched her.

"I need to air them out," Kim smiled ruefully. "I've been running all day, and…."

"I just mean, what if we have to move fast? Again? I'm still not sure this branch is entirely safe if those rejects from a Darwin poster are moving up and down inside this tree," Shego pointed out.

"Well, for now, I need to rest my feet, so I'll take my chances," she told her.

"So, see anything?"

"We are surrounded by forest as far as the eye can see. That sea is behind us, and stretches…. Well, you know how far it stretched. But I did spot what looked like a cliff wall of some kind in that direction," she pointed. "I'm guessing it may have some tunnels in it that might lead us back to the surface."

"We can hope," Shego smiled now. "So, how far?"

"No clue. Considering how everything is off, and my compass won't stop spinning, I have no clue just how to measure…anything. But it'll be a long walk. We'll need weapons, and provisions. And water in case we don't find any out there."

"So, do we borrow? Or try to go back to the beach, and hope big, green, and cranky didn't destroy everything?"

"I don't know, Shego. Either is a gamble at this point. Frankly, backtracking now seems counterproductive, but we need something to carry water, and I don't see these guys' clay pots as being all that easy to use."

"As opposed to those oversized gourds you found, and hollowed out with your laser?"

"Well, they were easy to use, and don't break," Kim nodded.

"So, you do want to risk the beach?"

"We know where to go. We obviously have the time. Hopefully, without my Kimmunicator signal being active, we can also get there, and back without stirring the local guard dogs."

"Guard dogs," Shego huffed.

"Well, that's what I started thinking them to be," Kim admitted. "They sure were trying to chase me away from the tree for a while."

"Or just chasing you," Shego pointed out.

"That, too," the redhead admitted.

"Right. So, tomorrow we go try to outwit a couple of overgrown lizards again. Highlight of my life," she sighed.

"I'd say you could stay here…."

"No chance of that. I'm still not sure these monkey-men might not try something else."

"Think they're sore losers?"

"What man isn't," Shego grumbled.

"Oh, well…. Not touching that one," Kim finally said.

"Just go to sleep, Kimberly," Shego told her. "I sleep light, so I'll wake you up if something happens. Hopefully in time to grab your boots."

Kim gave her another wan smile, and stretched out.

"Goodnight, Shego."

"Meh."

"Don't give up hope. We've gotten this far."

Shego's grumble was one of pure disgust.

 **~KP~**

"We have company," Shego whispered as the two women made their way through the brush, keeping their eyes open for anything scaly. Or anything else that might want to stomp them, eat them, or generally hurt them.

"I know. They've been following us since we left the tree after….breakfast."

"Why?"

"Maybe they fell in love with your diplomatic flair," Kim grinned at her.

Shego's expression was beyond sour.

"Just watch our backs, Kimmie. I wouldn't put it past these freaks to plant a spear in them."

"I think they're just curious."

"Right," Shego sniffed. "Curious. Let me tell you something, Kimberly Anne," she called her now. "Curious people watch you. They ask questions. They do not attack you without warning, or provocation."

"Well, I'll give you that. Only you have to consider that people also tend to be both curious, and fearful. Or how many times have humans, the ones we know, acted stupidly over things they didn't understand?"

"Princess," Shego scowled all the more as she glanced back to where one of the primitives was now pointedly letting himself be seen as if testing her. "You can play logic games all you like….when we're home. Right now, I don't trust these guys any more than your lizard guard dogs."

"Maybe, but have you noticed something?"

Shego just glared at her companion as they kept walking, the brush thinning out slightly by then as they neared the beach after walking most of the apparent morning.

"What now?"

"The farther we get from the tree, the more uneasy our friends are getting. They're watching the forest more than us lately, and I've noted they all keep a watch on one direction more than not."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Kim nodded. "The same direction I spotted those cliffs."

"So," Shego grimaced. "Whatever may be out there is something that scares the hairballs?"

"I'm guessing that's it."

"Not good, Possible. Not good."

"Maybe," Kim said, and paused as she took shelter near a large tree that was one of the few near the beach. Just ahead, a wide strip of sand now opened up, and bordered the edge of the underground sea as far as the eye could see.

"Maybe," Shego huffed. "Look, Kimberly…."

"You must be worried."

"What? What are you talking about now?"

"You keep calling me by name."

Shego shot her a mournful glare, and just eyed the beach.

"Looks like big, green, and ugly had a temper tantrum," she said, noting the scattered debris that had been their raft.

"Something did. Something, I wonder, that didn't want anyone on the water?"

"I'm not even going to ask about that theory."

"It's a theory," Kim admitted. "In the book, I recall the explorers get blown back almost purposely right back to near where they had started after a lot of….mishaps."

"We are not even close to….."

"How would we know? For sure? That's a huge body of water, we were at the mercy of wind and tide, and had to duck some pretty big creatures out there more than once. Still, we could be back near the same area, but this…..habitat could still be so large we don't realize how close we are."

"Not helping," Shego grit her teeth.

"Don't you get it, though," Kim asked her, her green eyes dark with thought.

"Apparently my brain doesn't work like yours," she shot, adding, "Thank God," just under her breath.

"Think about it, Shego. Suppose this is more than a single habitat. Suppose someone set up something, or something developed, that has flora and fauna that are kept apart for whatever the reasons."

"Now you're making it sound like someone's overgrown lab," Shego sputtered.

Kim nodded as her own eyes still searched the beach.

"I wonder if it isn't," she nodded.

Shego sputtered. She started to laugh, but then noted Kim was looking serious.

"Wait. You're serious?"

"There are flora and fauna here that shouldn't be mingling. Mastodons? With prehumans, and reptiles from millions of years ago? How likely is that to have happened in a natural setting," she asked Shego earnestly.

"Okay, you're getting back into the weirdness I thought we left up there with Doc," Shego grimaced.

"Well, it just makes sense. And gives a reason for the creatures around us to….behave so unnaturally in protecting certain territories."

"Getting worried again, Kimmie," Shego said uneasily as she looked around anxiously. "Are you saying, someone, or something is out there watching us?"

"That's just a theory. For all we know, they set up this…laboratory, and left it to run its course."

"Not any more inspiring," Kim was told.

"Actually, the fact these guys are scared of those cliffs gives me a degree of hope."

"Hope," she sputtered.

"Yeah. I started wondering. About those that came before us. About those that didn't make it. I started thinking that if someone, or something didn't want these…habitats mixing, then all their…specimens might be hardwired to prevent it."

"So, you're saying…."

"They aren't here to attack us," Kim told her now as she boldly stepped out on the beach, satisfied nothing was around that might attack. "They're here to prevent us from going to certain places."

"Snap," Shego grimaced. "So, if those cliffs are forbidden…."

"That's when they're going to try to stop us again."

"And put our skulls on their altar," Shego grimaced.

"They may try," Kim said. "But I think we both know neither of us is going down that easily."

Shego just scowled on as she followed Kim, and the women both started sifting the debris from their raft, and the supplies that were now little more than rubble.

"Hey," Kim grinned. "I found a gourd," she said, pulling one up out of the sand.

"Yippee," Shego muttered dryly. "We're saved," she twirled a finger sardonically she still noted the primitive tree men were watching them openly now, all of them with readied spears.

"Don't worry. Unless we look like we're about to head for someplace taboo, I don't think they'll do anything."

"Then why attack me at all?"

"You were new, and likely they weren't certain about you. So far, you've not really harmed any of them, uh, much, and they're probably starting to think of you as just another woman."

"Another… Oh, no. One of those hairballs even touches me…."

"I suspect they'll be cautious in that respect," Kim giggled at her. "Still, I think we can both ensure they get that no means no when it counts."

"It means hell, no," Shego snapped, "And I'll be handing out plasma vasectomies if they don't get that," she warned.

Kim couldn't help but giggle at that.

"So, Dr. Shego is offering free community service now?"

"You're warped, Princess," Shego grumbled, and continued to help her look for salvageable provisions. She did find a short vine coiled into a rope, but that was it as they both continued to search the beach with the hairy men watching their every move.

 _To Be Continued…._


	8. Chapter 8

_I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **8**

James Possible frowned as they neared the set coordinates for the last known sighting of his daughter.

"The regular compass is definitely acting more than a little off," he told his boys. "Double-check that gyro-compass."

"Still on track, and showing the same path the mole took," Tim told him. "Ron, anything on the frequency for Kim's Kimmunicator?"

"Nothing," the monkey-master told them, "But all these gizmos and things are showing all static and fuzz anyway," he reported.

"It looks like a serious jamming signal," Bonnie remarked. "See the patterns in the static? I saw something similar in a device the old man used once when he was trying to take over satellite communications."

"I remember that one," Jim nodded. "That was when Junior borrowed his satellite controls to try to kick-start a global party," she sniggered.

Bonnie sighed.

"Yeah. Junior could be fun, but he was never really a deep thinker."

"Yeah, not touching that one," Tim smirked. "Okay, dad, five degrees starboard, and bring up the nose point-nine degrees, and we'll be back on track….."

"Contact," James said as he felt the lurch as the drill stopped abruptly, and yet they were still moving.

"Slowing engines," James said, easing back on the yoke. "We are definitely in some kind of massive tunnel system."

"Sonar is showing a straight path," Tim agreed, "But we have no other signals. Just that static."

"So, either something natural is throwing out a lot of electromagnetic interference, or….."

"Someone else is down here playing games," Ron said grimly.

"I know I like to think anything is possible," James said, shooting him a glance, "But just now, that's a disturbing thought, Ronald. Do you think someone else came after our girl?"

"I'm just wondering if someone else was down here all along," Ron admitted.

"That….sounds interesting," Jim murmured.

"Hoo-shaa," Tim nodded his way.

"Okay, enough with the doom and gloom looks. Can we find K, or what," Bonnie demanded.

"Okay," Tim nodded. "Calculating last settings, and updating genetic coding based on the blood samples the mole detected."

"Entering organic parameters, and filtering out any possible anomalies," Jim added, looking his way as they quickly moved to another console yet to be activated.

"Warming up the bio-scans, and….."

"We are on track. Kim and Shego definitely came this way," Jim finished. "If we can't use a frequency, we'll just track them the same way the mole is doing it. With genetic patterns. We should enter Shego into the matrix, too, just in case. Her comet power may make a strong beacon all by itself. Straight ahead, dad," he added, "We'll tie in the bio-scan to the gyro-compass, and it should lead us right to Kim."

"Quick and easy," Tim agreed.

"Wait, you have Shego's genetics on file," Ron asked them.

"She did hang around the house for a while there," the boys grinned slyly.

"Then, let's go," Ron told them.

"Ahead, one-quarter power," James reported even as he moved the yoke again with a hopeful smile. "It shouldn't be long now."

"Is it getting lighter ahead," Bonnie asked, noting the filtering light that seemed to be growing around them as the plexi-steel portals that acted like windows let the exterior light into the cabin.

"We're approaching that jungle we spotted before the mole's transmitters went down," James said, reporting over the radio himself. "You get that, Felix?"

There was only a crackling sound over the speaker on the dash before him, and James glanced around.

"Check all our coms now."

"Interior coms are good. Remote transceivers check out. Something is just keeping our signals from getting out. We're broadcasting to ourselves," Jim told everyone.

"So, Felix may not even know where we are," Bonnie asked fretfully.

"Oh, he knows," Tim smirked.

"We put a fusion tracker in our gear so that Renton can track the _reactor_ in this baby no matter where it goes. We may not be able to talk, but he'll be able to see exactly where we're headed," Jim nodded.

"Smart one, boys," James grinned. "Say, that might help out with a probe we were wanting to send into a black hole next month. I'll need to see your tracking gear when we get back," the scientist told his sons.

"Sure, dad. So long as we can see the telemetry, too."

"I think we can manage…."

"Can we stay on track here," Bonnie demanded irritably.

"Nervous, Bon," Ron asked her somberly.

"Practical," she shot back. "If someone is really jamming us down here, don't you think they might try to do something else if they realize we aren't stopping?"

"And that's why we brought weapons," Jim and Tim both declared.

"Weapons, boys," James Possible demanded imperiously.

"Nothing serious, dad. Just narco-darts, high amplitude tasers, and a few mini-missiles with…minor payloads."

"Define minor," James demanded.

"Never mind. I think we have officially arrived," Bonnie said as the nose of the tunneler left the long tunnel, and they were suddenly surrounded by thick, lush greenery.

"Holy….."

Everyone was staring as Dr. Possible stopped the tunneler, and they just crowded around the cockpit seats to stare outside.

"She was definitely here," Jim said quietly, and pointed to one side of the massive probe turned drill.

They all saw the mess made of a rough clearing where it looked like someone had squatted for a time before leaving. There were heaps of broken branches, piles of withering berries the size of large melons, and more than a few piles of leaves that were likely used as bedding.

"Genetic scans are strong here," Jim nodded. "But it shows they went….twenty degrees port, dad."

"So, they were building something," Ron asked, seeing the broken branches, and vines in that messy clearing.

"A raft," James, Jim, and Tim all said as one. "Just like in the book. We must be near the sea Lidenbrock found."

"The one with the monsters in it," Bonnie asked uneasily.

"They can't stop this baby," Tim assured her.

"But Kim doesn't have a space drill," Bonnie told them.

"She has Shego," Ron reminded her.

Everyone gave him a peculiar look.

"I'm just saying, those two have had a weird….thing since forever. I think the only thing that ever made Shego madder than Drakken screwing with her, was someone trying to hurt Kim. Why? No clue. Go figure. You try to hurt Kim, though, and that crazed woman would…."

"But she tries to hurt Kim," Bonnie frowned.

"I used to think so, too," Ron nodded. "But think about it. Shego is sneakier than anyone alive. Can get anywhere she wants without being seen. Add to that the freaking glowing hands that peel steel like paper, and do you really think Kim stands a chance if Shego really wanted to just hurt her, or put her down?"

"That sounds….weird," both boys said as James frowned darkly.

"Are you saying….that woman secretly likes Kimmie-Cub?"

"That's what I am guessing," Ron nodded at the rocket scientist. "Maybe she knows it….?"

"Kim, or Shego," Bonnie asked with a confused frown.

"Either of them. Maybe she doesn't. Let's face it, Kim is lousy with relationships, and knowing what's in front of her. I'm not even going to guess about the crazy woman with the bad temper," Ron admitted. "But I do know Shego can be insanely protective about Kim at times."

"Then why did she push her in the hole," Bonnie sputtered.

"That's something I don't know," Ron admitted. "Yet. We'll find out when we find them."

"Then let's get moving. Prep aquatic mode, boys," James told them. "I get the feeling the water isn't that….. Whoa," he said, all of them gaping at the wide, dark blue sea ahead of them.

"That is one massive storm," Ron hissed, seeing the darkness rising before them on the far horizon, and flashes of lightning all about the clouds.

"That storm hits us, and it might still do some damage," Tim warned.

"Prepare to go to submarine mode," Jim shouted, and rushed back to his own station. "We are doing to dive!"

"Oh, God," Bonnie moaned, and quickly buckled herself back in as Ron and Tim both took their own stations as James turned the nose to line up with the genetic scanner, and headed for the beach just ahead.

"Half power to engines," he said, holding the yoke, and flipping switches even as he did. "We're going down, boys. Get ready!"

"Best ride ever," the twins shouted as Bonnie only moaned as the ship began to hum with power once more.

 **~KP~**

"They still out there," Shego asked quietly as they huddled in another tree high over the forest floor.

Dangling from a rope-vine was a small pack with their provisions.

They had gathered meat from the tree primitives, dried and smoked it after it was cooked, and managed to make a rough, waterskin to add to the single gourd they had rescued. It helped that they had found their vine-ropes, and found a few stone knives that Kim had fashioned with her laser early on.

The primitive men had watched them prepare for days after they had returned to the big central tree with their few scavenged supplies. Some of them seemed genuinely interested in what they were doing, and one of them had filched some of their smoked and dried meat early on to test it. He had then jabbered endlessly to his companions before the men started trying to replicate their efforts themselves.

"Wonder what your alleged caretakers out there are going to think of you helping evolution along here," Shego had mused back then.

Finally, as prepared as they could be, the two woman had left one morning before even the men rose, and headed in the general direction of the cliffs.

Kim didn't intend to be obvious, though, and kept a meandering route that led them past a few nests with very large eggs. Considering what they likely were, they had kept going in another direction. Eventually, they encountered a smallish meadow, considering, with at least a score of mastodon grazing, though they didn't see the giants the book had claimed tended them.

Now, some five days away from the tree, they were still essentially taking a circling path toward the cliffs without being obvious. At about noon of their third day, a few of the men had appeared. They stayed in the trees, and mostly hid themselves, but they were obviously watching them.

"They're out there," Kim sighed.

"I hate this place, Kim. I mean, I really hate this place. Can't we just head right for the cliffs?"

"As much as I wouldn't mind doing just that, I'd rather not push our luck," Kim advised her.

"You think the hairballs would attack us? I already laid them out once."

"No. I don't really worry too much about them now. I still think they're mostly just curious. I'm more worried about any other guard dogs, and their masters," the redhead admitted.

"You really think….?"

"The more I think about it, the more I'm sure they have to be out there. Or were out there. Even if they did leave this….lab, or whatever, they likely had some kind of defenses left behind. It only makes sense if we go that route."

"So, more guards like the lizards that chased your Kimmunicator?"

"Yeah. I'd rather not find out there is still more out there. Not without some warning," Kim pointed out.

"Sooner or later, the dimmest of whoever or whatever is going to figure it out."

"So why warn them early on? I figure two, maybe three more days of circling this region, and we're going to be in place for a quick run right for the cliffs. Then, well, we'll see what comes next."

Shego turned, blinking against the glare of the diamond sun overhead that penetrated the foliage, and faced Kim now as the redhead lay there on her back in their makeshift tree bed.

"Something else on your mind?"

"I have been thinking about it. What you said. I… I don't think you deserved to be shoved in here," Shego told her. "Not now."

"Well, I could have missed this adventure, and been pretty happy," Kim admitted with a crooked grin.

"I figured you were enjoying it," Shego quipped, "I mean, from the way you were acting…."

"I'm just trying to stay positive, keep my head, and keep us moving toward a way out," Kim admitted. "I'll be the first to admit that this science fiction bit is way over my head. And very far from what I'd prefer."

"Yet you fight mad scientists, and loons like Drew?"

"To keep them from making things worse, yeah. Could you really imagine a world in Drakken's hands," Kim asked her.

Shego sighed.

"Seriously? No. He'd get bored, and move on to something else inside a week of conquering the world, and leave a mess for someone else to clean up," she grumbled. "Probably me," she added in an even more sour tone.

"Unlike Dementor, who would probably be outfitting everyone for slave collars the first day," Kim scowled. "If he didn't just kill everyone. And _that_ is why I fight."

Shego sighed, and rolled onto her back.

"Did you really try to invite me," Shego finally asked.

"Ask… Well, when we get back, you can ask anyone. If I had known where you were, I would have invited you personally. I did start to think of you as a friend, Shego."

Shego grimaced.

"After all the crap I've done," the green woman sputtered.

"After all the good you've done. I'm not as blind as I was at the start," Kim turned to eye her. "I know you helped us a lot in those later missions. I know you helped sabotage a few of your idiot boss' plans, and spread a lot of misinformation out there for us. In my favor."

"Not really that much. You have a pretty big rep yourself, Princess," Shego turned to smile at her. "And you do deserve that."

"If I'm successful, it's because…"

"Don't bring up Stoppable. I won't say he hasn't matured, somewhat," Shego sniffed, "But let's face it, that guy almost got you both killed more than once at the start."

"Yet he hung in there, and helped save the whole world when it counted."

"Oh, yeah. That mystic mojo of his definitely came in handy. We could use it now," she admitted. "But Stoppable, on his own? I still see the clown in him."

"Only because he lets you. Ron's good about hiding his own gifts if you don't know him well," Kim smiled.

"So, you're still….fond of him?"

"Ron? He's still my best friend since forever. Just…not much else. Like we talked about earlier, we kind of both realized we didn't have the spark we needed for anything more."

"Hmmmm."

"Something else on your mind?"

"So, you're still not seeing anyone else?"

"College, work, and missions. I haven't really had time. You probably know, too, that the kind of guys that want to date me aren't the kind I'd care to see," the redhead sighed.

"Been there, burned the tee-shirt," Shego muttered.

Kim only chortled.

"What about you?"

Shego looked up at the sky through the branches, and only sighed.

"Hey, you started the topic. What kind of guy do you have? Or want?"

"None," she sighed.

"Really? But I thought…. I mean, you're gorgeous," Kim blurted, and promptly blushed crimson.

Shego grinned, but only sighed as she looked up again.

"Kimmie, I'm green."

"I….I know that. But that doesn't really matter…."

"Not that many people overlook that kind of thing. Then there is the whole impenitent felon bit. And let's face it, I do have a bad temper, and most people don't have a chance if they get on my nerves. Which most of them do," she admitted.

"Okay, I can see that. But surely you have someone you'd like…."

Shego sighed, and looked away again.

"Let's just drop it. Okay, Princess," she grumbled.

"Okay. So, tell me this…?"

"What," Shego grit out.

"Well, you've really been on edge since this whole misadventure started. I thought you'd be…. Well, that you wouldn't be so shook up over this. You really seem…."

"Kimberly," Shego sputtered. "We fell into a damn hole in the _planet!_ We almost died then. Then you find this underground playhouse full of monsters and evolutionary throwbacks, and you hint there may have a puppet master out there playing god. Do you not feel just a little nervous about all that," she exclaimed.

"Well, a little, I guess. I just figured after all the mad science and villains you had seen on both sides of the law that you'd be a little more…."

"Look, Drew's insanity. Garden variety. I can handle it. Miles deep holes in the planet with genuine prehistoric freaks? Not so much," Shego spat, and glared now. "Can we drop it? Completely?"

"Okay. I was just curious. I mean, you always seemed so tough. You even took on those Lorwardians without blinking."

"Look, I was…. Well, I was trying real hard not to think of who, or what they were. I just imagined them as oversized Drews," she admitted, making Kim snigger. "I mean, seriously, they were about as smart."

"You have me there," she grinned. "You know what I really miss just now?"

"Hot baths, and toilets," Shego muttered.

"My mom," Kim admitted.

"Your mom?"

Kim sighed, and blushed again.

"Need someone to tuck you in," Shego couldn't help but grin.

"No," Kim sputtered. "But….I miss her hugging me. No matter what was going on, or how bad things got, I always knew one hug from mom, and…."

Shego impulsively rolled over, and pulled the slender redhead into her arms, hugging her fiercely.

"I know I'm not Anne, but….maybe…."

Kim gave a suspiciously subdued sniff, and then gave a tiny laugh, and then her hands rose awkwardly within the circle of Shego's arms, and returned the embrace.

"Actually, I think it's really the thought that counts here. Thanks, Shego. Honestly, if you hadn't been with me, I might already have died several times."

"No," the green-skinned woman sighed, and started to roll back over only to find Kim still holding onto her. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be here."

"I think we can both honestly say this is all on Drakken," Kim told her somberly, and moved to lay her head on Shego's shoulder.

"What are you….?"

"I'm just glad you're okay, too, Shego. Honestly. I am. I really can't think of anyone else I'd rather have at my side down here. Even if lizards do scare you."

Shego sputtered, and glared down at the redhead just under her chin.

"You will pay for that one, Kimmie," Shego growled. "I don't know how. I don't know when. But mark my words, you will pay."

Kim only giggled.

Shego was starting to sound much more like herself again, and that was exactly what they both needed. An unnerved Shego was anxious, and ironically careless. Next to useless, Kim had to admit. A sardonic, vengeful Shego was someone who was thinking, and getting ready for action. That was what they both needed out of her.

And, Kim had to admit, it actually felt rather good to be hugged by the comet-powered woman who felt rather warm.

"Didn't realize you were so warm," Kim sighed, and snugged up to her now.

"Hey! I'm not a damn electric blanket!"

Kim only giggled, and snuggled closer.

Shego didn't argue, and for all her grumbling, she didn't turn away.

 _To Be Continued….._


	9. Chapter 9

_ueI do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **9**

"I'm getting a reading again," Jim told his father excitedly as the probe now floated on the once again calm sea after a long, roiling storm that had them tossed violently even under the surface. It was as if the entire body of water were being agitated by whatever forces had conjured that storm, but true to his word, Dr. Possible's space probe turned mole had been more than capable of riding out the chaotic forces.

"Which direction," James Possible asked, still focused on the instruments before him, making sure nothing had been shaken lose during their rough ride.

"This makes no sense," Jim frowned. "I get a reading thirty degrees port. It's like they only skimmed to the left of the beach rather than trying to cross the main body."

"I doubt they could manage if they faced a storm like we did," Bonnie pointed out. "Maybe they had to turn to the side?"

"Maybe," Ron murmured.

"What are you thinking?"

"Maybe they were herded. Like those guys in the book. While they took the direction as being natural forces, what if there is someone down here, and they don't want us going in certain directions?"

"Actually, that could be possible," James Possible murmured. "Still, we're not down here for any alleged madmen, or…whatever. We're here for Kimmie-Cub. So I'm turning port. Keep your eyes open, boys. I want us on a direct course as soon as possible. I don't want to miss them now that we're getting close."

"I've got a land mass rising in…..roughly thirty kilometers," Tim pointed out on the navigation console. "And that is the same direction as the genetic track. They must have beached there."

"Full ahead," Dr. Possible smiled grimly, and the engines hummed loudly as the converted space probe powered through the still waters toward their destination.

"Piece of cake," Jim and Tim grinned.

"Just as long as we don't see any more of those oversized….things," Bonnie shuddered.

"Hey, the electric charge we sent through the skin sent them packing. No big," Jim told her. "And they were probably a genus of plesiosaurus based on…."

"I don't care," Bonnie hissed. "I'd rather not see one again."

"I'm with her," Ron told them.

"Lightweights," Tim muttered.

"Let's focus, boys. Remember why we're here," their father cut them off.

"I wonder how far ahead of us they are now," Ron asked.

No one had an answer.

 **KP**

Kim stopped to wipe the sweat from her brow and looked around.

"What's up," Shego asked, looking, and sounding more like herself of late.

"Just taking a breather."

Shego eyed the redhead that had abruptly stopped and glanced around. "Tell me another one. What did you see?"

"You don't want to know," Kim sighed as she put her monocular away.

"Kim," Shego hissed.

"We…probably should turn around now. Hopefully, we don't attract their attention."

Shego snatched her monocular as Kim kept backing toward the thicker stand of trees, and turned to lift the device. She gasped, and immediately joined Kim as she hissed, "What the hell are those?"

"Exactly what they look like," Kim said grimly. "Apparently, the next line of…. Shego, run," she hissed, and turned and bolted even as the loud humming of monstrous bees filled their ears.

"The hell with that. We run, and they chase us down. But let's see how well they fly without wings," she spat, and turned, and tossed Kim her monocular even as she flung a ball of searing, green energy at the nearest arriving bee that looked like a cross between a honeybee and a yellow jacket. Both on steroids.

Kim risked activating her battle suit and raised her force field even as more of the bees swarmed them, and without asking, encompassed Shego before she could be swarmed by the creatures that targeted her now as four of their number had been grounded, but only to stomp toward them on massive legs, and sounding all the angrier.

"What now, Kimberly, because I'm not seeing a way out of this one," Shego grimaced as she dropped her glowing hands, letting her energy plasma fade since she wasn't doing much good beyond putting those monsters on ground level with them. "Those things are as armored as the lizards, which doesn't give me much of a target beyond their wings….. Oh, that is not fair," she complained as they both watched the four grounded bees seem to grow their wings back in eerie slow motion that had them jumping, hopping, and then flying back up to help surround them as Kim frowned at the bees that seemed determined to hammer her force field as if intending to wear it down, and break it.

Which, she had to admit, might just be possible.

Even as she pondered a way out, she gasped as crackling, electric blasts of pure energy shot out of the trees, and all but cored several of the giant insects. The insects immediately pulled back, and gave Kim and Shego an opening, but they both waiting, looking around in confusion even as a squat, boxy vehicle the size of two child's wagons clapped together came rolling out of the trees on long tracks common to some tanks.

Only they were wagons crammed with electronic gear, with a small, but powerful bore in the front and back, and crowned by obviously powerful laser turrets.

"The Tweebs," she grinned as the small vehicle kept blasting, and drove the insects away until they just hovered near the cliffs, and seemed to be studying them, and the newcomer. "That has to be their work."

"Okay, kudos for the destructo twins," Shego said, gaping at the device. "Any idea if that thing can actually help us get out of here now?"

Which was when the nearby sound of a familiar roar sounded, and the heavy thud of powerful feet sounded.

"Remember what I said about my Kimmunicator," she asked.

"Right. So, we got rescued only to lure in the next bunch of monsters," Shego grimaced.

"I'm switching off my suit, and we'll go high, and try to pull the…..drill up after us with my grapple. For now, I get the feeling it's likely going to do better than we would against….."

She grabbed Shego in one arm, fired her grapple, and carried them both up into the nearest tree even as she looked down, and saw not one, but two of the huge reptiles.

"That," she grimaced as both of the creatures seemed to focus solely on the small vehicle below that had backed up against the very tree they now occupied.

"You know that theory of yours about watchdogs is starting to sound way too possible, and very disturbing just now," Shego pointed out as she tried to aim her grapple at the device below them.

Even as she tried to figure out an angle, the device below fired at one of the creatures, hitting it in one leg, and forcing it to fall sideways with a bellow of rage and pain. Before it, or the other creature could react, four spiked arms shot out of the sides, and the vehicle began to actually ascend the tree after them.

"What the hell did those two build," she exclaimed as Shego just gaped at the impossible device that rolled up the tree toward them.

"I don't know, but let's grab it, shut it down, and hope that will encourage those things to go away," Kim replied as she watched the oversized device rolling closer and closer right up the side of the high, thick tree.

When it was near enough to grab, Kim wrapped a coil from her rope around it, and tied it off even as she studied the now waiting device that seemed to just stop when it reached her position.

"They must be using some kind of bio-tracking program," she mused as she studied the sides, and finally found an inset power switch where only a finger could reach to power it off, or on. She pressed the button, and the entire vehicle folded into a simple, boxy shape without any indication of what was hidden inside. Below, the creatures still roared and looked around, but now seemed to be glancing around in confusion.

"Definitely keying in on tech somehow," Kim said as the pair wandered off after the first regained its footing, even if it did still limp.

"So, again, what good does that do us? Because we're not getting near those cliffs from the look of the bee monsters," Shego complained.

"I was wondering myself. I thought they were caves, but those holes must be some kind of hive. I get the feeling it might be the way out, and our mystery defender may have put in the new guards to keep anyone from getting out too easily."

"Yeah," Shego grumbled at hearing that, "Because everything has just been a piece of damn cake so far," she complained as Kim finally found, and opened a small storage compartment. She pulled out a small Kimmunicator like the first she once carried and risked switching it on.

She saw her brothers staring out of the screen, and couldn't help but smile.

"If you are seeing this, you're not dead," one of them declared.

"Which we have to question anyway, because, after all, you are a Possible. No way did that blue freak put you down. We'll take care of him later, though. Anyway, we sent this down to find out, and if you activate this recording, it will give us a beacon to find you, and come and get you."

"Just give us time," the other, Tim, she knew now, declared. "Until then, stay alive, if you still are, and we will get there."

"Just remember you will be owing us a ferociously huge favor. Meanwhile, our mini rover will keep you safe from just about anything after it finds you," Jim grinned, and the device went blank.

"Are they saying?"

"I get the feeling they plan on coming down here after us," Kim grinned as she slid the new Kimmunicator into her equipment belt just to hold on to it.

"You, at least," Shego murmured, eyeing the redhead who looked more cheerful than ever. Which seemed ridiculous to her considering they had just had their only route out of her cut off, but good.

"So, what now," she asked as Shego noted that Kim was studying the forest below again with careful scrutiny.

"First, we head back to the tree…"

"What," Shego complained. "After all this, we backtrack?"

"After we make sure it's safe," Kim nodded.

"But if the cliffs are still the only way out of here….."

"Think, Shego. No way are we going to get past that hive, even I know that now. Still, if the Tweebs are coming, and they're following our trail, they're coming from the same direction we just left. The closer we are to the start, the faster they'll find us," Kim grinned. "It's only a matter of time now."

"Oy," Shego sighed. "I can't deny that makes sense. I was just hoping we could be out of here before they had to show up."

"To be honest, I'm more hopeful than ever now knowing the boys are working on rescuing us. Trust me, they can be downright terrifying when they focus their minds on something these days," the redhead grinned happily.

"So, if they just got our signal, or your signal, how long do you think…?"

Off in the distance, well beyond their current location, they heard another roar, and it sounded just like the same lizards. Only dozens of them.

"Not long," Kim guessed as they heard explosions and more thunderous roars. "Let's go," she said, and punched the rover's power button, and then swung them down out of the tree at the same instant. "Let's make sure our ride home isn't in trouble."

 **~KP~**

"Look at the size of that tree," Bonnie said in awe as she pointed out the cockpit window. "It must be as big as a skyscraper."

"Bigger," Ron admitted.

"Something that might draw the girls, I wager," Dr. Possible declared as he angled the course to avoid a small outcropping of old rock, and tried to stay on what little bit of trail was visible to them.

"Were those….mammoths," Tim asked as they broke into a small clearing, and saw a small herd of furry beasts stampede off in apparent fear.

"Mastodons," James told his son. "The same genus, but of an earlier era, which is quite astonishing. There seems to be a comingling of various historical flora and fauna around us without rhyme or reason. Still, I'm sure there is a logical basis for…."

"Enough science. What are those," Bonnie demanded as the slowing tunneler now stopped, and faced a line of more than a dozen massive lizards.

All snarling, and growling, and some roaring with menace.

"This doesn't seem right. Why would animals act like….that," Ron frowned, eyeing the proverbial line drawn before them?

"They don't seem to want us nearing that tree," James remarked as he tried to angle their path around the lizards, only to have them roar in anger, and actually move to keep their numbers between them and their destination.

"That is….surprisingly intelligent behavior for supposedly prehistoric beasts," Jim remarked as Tim leaned over his shoulder, and eyed the massive lizards.

"We should be able to just power past them."

"But should we," Ron asked, his eyes glittering blue just then. "Something….feels…..wrong here, guys. Let's wait, and see what happens first."

"Ron, what are you thinking," Bonnie asked before anyone else could.

"If they're acting like this," Ron murmured, his glittering eyes on the line of monstrous creatures before them, "Then maybe they have a reason."

"But….if these things are so….protective of this place, how would Kim have survived. Did she survive," Bonnie asked anxiously?

"I'd say yes," Jim and Tim grinned and pointed.

Everyone on the bridge of the tunneler gaped as they saw Kim and Shego burst through the massive roadblock, the mini-rover leading them, and then to their horror, Kim turned and stopped to face the line of monsters as if she were making her own stand.

"What is she doing now," Bonnie groaned even as Jim shouted he would open the hatch.

Outside, Shego skidded to a halt, and the rover stopped, reversed, and came up behind Kim.

Everyone held their collective breath as the creatures seemed to fix on Kim and only Kim.

 **~KP~**

"It's the Tweebs," Kim shouted from her vantage point in a tree as she saw the massive, metal vehicle easily the size of one of her dad's rockets. "They're definitely here."

"I get the feeling those lizards don't like them being here, though," Shego remarked as Kim rejoined her on the ground, and they eased closer, the rover seemingly overlooked as it accompanied them as they moved closer and closer to their apparent rescue.

"I get the feeling they really are some kind of guards," Kim frowned. "Which gives me an idea."

"What? What are you planning now, you loon," Shego asked, still shocked at the risks Kim took as they dumped virtually all their provisions, and just ran for the apparent source of the chaos they had heard.

"Look at them," she said, moving closer to the milling, yet stable line of lizards confronting the new, and massive tunneler before them.

When the vehicle tried to turn, the entire line shifted and moved to continue blocking them.

"That is….weird," Shego frowned.

"Yeah. Definitely atypical behavior for simple reptiles," Kim agreed and stepped out of the trees to start for the very heart of the creatures' line.

"Are you nuts, Kimmie," Shego hissed.

"Don't worry, I have an idea," she told the comet-powered woman. "Just follow me."

"That's what you said before you almost walked us into a giant beehive," Shego complained.

"It still worked out," Kim complained.

"Oy, one day…."

She still followed, speeding her own steps as Kim suddenly bolted for the nearest lizard, dodged its massive feet, and wove her way through the line of reptiles before breaking into a run.

At first, Shego thought they were running for the tunneler, and she even saw a side hatch open, and one of the twins staring their way. Only she heard the mini-rover stop and turned to see Kim had stopped, and was now standing there as if daring those things to attack.

"Kimmie, what are you doing now," she demanded, skidding to a stop, and feeling helpless since she wanted to bolt for safety, but found she didn't want to leave the redheaded idiot that had kept her alive this long.

"Testing another theory," she said and made eye contact with one of the lizards.

"A theory," Shego hissed. "Here's my idea, you nut, we run for the hatch and get out of here now."

"But we might still have a fight getting out of here. I suspect I know why now, too. So let me try it my way."

"Which…..involves what," the green-skinned woman asked anxiously.

"Just give me a second," she said, and now stepped forward.

"Are you nuts," Shego hissed, wanting to scream, but afraid it might cause the wrong reaction as Kim ignored her, and walked right up to within stomping distance of that big lizard, and still eyed it alone.

"I know you've watched us. I can guess you're concerned about us, and our friends. I don't know who you are, but I promise you, we only want to go home. My family is here to take us home," she said, gesturing to the tunneler. "If you let us go, I promise you, no one will know what we saw. No one will hear about what happened here. We just want to go home. Okay?"

The lizard seemed to just glare with a cold, baleful glare, and Shego tensed as the mini-rover hummed with power, obviously keeping its weapons ready.

"We don't want to hurt your….friends. Or whatever. We don't want to do anything but go home. You have a choice. But if you want to fight, you already know we won't be easy to defeat. We don't want to fight, but it is your choice. I'm just asking you trust us, and we can all live in peace. Okay?"

"That's your idea," Shego hissed from beside her. "Play nice?"

"It's always worked before," she smiled at her but kept her gaze on that singular reptile.

Who suddenly blinked, just before a bright, yellow beam of light exploded down at them, and surrounded them both as the jeweled sun seemed to play over them, and them alone for a moment before the beam faded.

"Whoa, okay what was with the light show?"

"I'm guessing it was some kind of test," Kim murmured and noted the lizards were now stretching out, thinning their lines, but staying in place.

Then, the one before her lifted one clawed talon and actually pointed.

"I get the feeling we've been dismissed," Kim said and nodded at the reptile.

"You think," she said, as now every lizard there was pointing the same way.

"Yeah. C'mon," she said, and headed for the tunneler, the rover following them even though its weapons remained at the ready. She glanced back just before she climbed up to the hatch, and shouted back, "Thank you for trusting us, I promise, we will keep our word."

Then she was inside, and everyone was hugging her, and all but crying, even Bonnie, and Shego only broke up the reunion by saying, "Can we go before our hosts get impatient," she asked as the twins brought the rover on board, and shut it down.

"I kind of promised them we'd leave the way we came, and never say a word about what we saw," Kim told her father.

"That is likely for the best," the rocket scientist declared. "Frankly, the questions this misadventure has raised wouldn't do anyone any good anyway," he declared. "Boys, let's turn this thing around, and go home," he said, still remaining hugely as he kept glancing back at his daughter who had settled into a seat and just collapsed.

"Yeah, let's go home," Ron nodded at her. "Ready for a fast trip back, KP?"

"Please, and thank you," she said, and let her eyes drop only then.

"Oy," Shego murmured from beside her, but was just as tired, and dozed off just as fast as the big machine began to move, powering up for its trip back across the underground sea.

 _To Be Continued….._


	10. Chapter 10

_KI do not own any Disney characters named herein and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **10**

"So, you were lost in a maze of lava tubes," Betty asked incredulously of the group in her office.

"Huge tunnels," Shego nodded. "Frankly, I couldn't figure out how she figured out which way to go half the time. Most of the time, the compass didn't even work."

"Magnetic deposits," James Possible nodded. "It caused major interference and kept standard compasses or scanning devices from working very well. It was almost blind luck we found her and Miss Go at all."

"Fortunately, our genetic tracking program helped," Jim and Tim smiled.

"Really. So, you could use that to track….anyone?"

"Forget it," Kim shot. "I've already seen how the right people misuse tech for the wrong reasons. The boys have already agreed to shelve that one for emergency use only."

"Now, Kimberly….."

"I've already heard about Du's latest insanity. Just tell me you found out who was behind it? Or do we need to…?"

"GJ already investigated, and shut down that particular plot," Dr. Director assured the group in her office that had come in for a belated debriefing after Kim had already given her own abbreviated version of his adventures to the press to assure the world that she was still very much alive.

Said debriefing also included Shego's own version of events that suggested she was not only not back in villainy but had been there as Kim's double agent before a mishap had almost cost them both their lives. The head of Global Justice still doubted that one, but every one of those with Kim was backing the comet-powered woman's story.

"And what did they find; exactly," Ron asked with surprising bluntness.

"It turned out to be a rather clever plot by Lucre this time," Dr. Director told them. "Only considering the equipment involved, the duplicitous nature of the plot, and scientific manipulation of the available tech, I have to wonder if Jack Hench himself weren't also involved. Only we still have no direct evidence…."

"We'll find out," Jim and Tim declared.

"Right," Ron nodded at them.

"This is still a GJ operation," Dr. Director told them, "And without evidence…."

"So, what did you do to Will," Kim demanded curtly, looking more than curious, and rather angry herself after hearing all the man had been up to supposedly to aid the world, by ridding it of her.

"He's been transferred to sanitation," the head of GJ said dryly. "I rather doubt he'll be making field agent again anytime this decade. If ever."

"Good," Kim nodded. "I trust he knows if I see him again anytime soon, I'll be….displeased," Kim asked bluntly.

"Actually," Betty atypically smirked now. "When he heard you were back….he screamed. And started crying."

Ron and Bonnie both sniggered.

"He still got off light," Jim and Tim muttered, and Kim had no doubt they weren't finished with the duplicitous agent.

"I'd have fired him, but frankly, he knows too much, and I don't think I would care to trust his sense of honor after all that has happened," Betty admitted.

"So, you have smartened up," Ron drawled, and Shego sniggered now.

"I have an entire agency to oversee, Ronald," she growled. "At the time, Du did seem a good choice for a senior commander."

"Right," every single one of those standing before her drawled skeptically.

The one-eyed senior agent only shook her head.

"So," Betty turned back to Kimberly. "You don't have anything else to add to your report?"

Kim glanced at the ceiling, looking thoughtful, and shrugged. "No, that was about it. Phosphorescent walls and some surprisingly thick foliage likely created by the bright, semi-conductive gases that illuminated the larger caverns. We were lucky we were able to breathe that stuff. I guess the plants balanced out the other gases by creating a small oxygen bubble. Still, it was pretty….stark. Frankly, I'm shocked the accounts of Verne made it seem so easily managed. It was a confusing maze down there, and I was starting to think we'd be lost forever," she declared.

"Fortunately, you were not," she nodded and dismissed them after adding, "We would still like you to come back to GJ, Kimberly. And, Dr. Possible, I do hope you'll be settling the matter of your borrowed….vehicle?"

"About that," James smiled, all of them have reached a consensus that the tunneler should suffer a timely breakdown so no one could try to use it again.

"I'm not going to even ask," she had declared.

No one else commented, and they headed out of the office and reached Dr. Possible's van before Ron asked, "You think she bought it," as he eyed Kim.

"Maybe about half. Still, hopefully, she does still trust us enough to let it go. The last thing we need is for someone thinking there is anything down there to find."

"Somehow, princess," Shego murmured as they all climbed into the van that was packed by the time they all climbed inside. "I don't think anyone else would manage half as well as you did."

"Or you," Kim added with a grin aimed her way. "Remember, you were there, too, and helped a lot."

"Right. I was a great help," she muttered sourly.

"Hey, you saved our butts when we fell in that pit…."

"That was you."

"You helped find that tunnel we could use to get to the underground world…."

"That was you," Shego drawled.

"You helped us reach it," Kim sputtered.

"Let's just be happy you both made it through that madhouse," Ron declared.

"Hear, hear," Shego agreed. "So, subject closed, and let's never even think about it ever again. Agreed?"

"Absolutely," Ron, Bonnie, and Kim all declared.

Then all three eyed Dr. Possible and the twins.

 _"Agreed,"_ Kim all but growled at them, especially the boys.

"Fine. But what a waste of scientific information, and possibilities," the twins complained.

"Well, there is always space," James Possible reminded them happily. "And as I pointed out, some of your devices and programs are going to be very helpful on my next probe."

"Hoo-sha," both boys grinned, and high-fived one another.

"So, I guess you're going to be leading….Team Possible again," Bonnie asked quietly as she sat on Kim's left side, with Shego on the far side. The boys sat in the far back, with Ron taking shotgun in the front.

"Probably," she smiled. "After the past few months, I'm ready for some plain old ordinary missions," she laughed as Shego just eyed her.

"Uh, well…."

"Bonnie has been working with us, me and the boys, since you…..disappeared," Ron told her. "She's probably wondering if you want her to stay."

"You have," Kim turned to ask the brunette.

"Yeah," Bonnie said sheepishly. "I can fight….pretty well."

"As good as Kimmie," Shego asked blandly.

"Well, as good as the twins," Bonnie admitted. "We've all been sparring, and learning from Ron, though."

"If you really want to stay, and help out, we'd be more than glad to have you, Bon," Kim told her. "Of course, getting rides may be more difficult with so many new members," she laughed.

"About that," the twins said from the back.

"What is with them and that stereo-speak," Shego muttered as she glared back at them.

"They're Tweebs," Kim shrugged. "Although this is one time I don't mind. You guys really saved our butts down there."

"So, did you ever figure out what the weird yellow beam was all about," Ron asked her as they fell silent on the trip over.

"No clue," Kim admitted and eyed Shego. "You?"

"I was too busy watching the lizards to really notice anything," she admitted.

"She was scared of them," Kim explained.

"I was not," Shego seethed. "I was….cautious. Careful. You were the one wanting to play tag with the things."

The twins sniggered, but Ron only shook his head.

"What," Kim demanded of him.

"Well, that does sound like you, KP," Ron said, very glad he was in the front seat just then as her father added, "I have to admit, it kind of does, sweetie."

"Jeez. I was…. You know what, never mind. The whole sitch? Never happened. Not a bit of it. So we won't discuss it again."

"But…."

"Not one thing," Kim snapped at Ron.

Shego only grinned at her.

"So, what are your plans now," Ron asked Shego. "I mean, after KP kind of bailed you out with Dr. Director, that leaves you free and clear again."

"I….don't really know. I gave my word that I was out of the biz, though. I intend to keep that word," she told them all as she eyed Kim. "Maybe I'll leave you my number this time, though," she told Kim, "So we don't have to repeat any similar craziness."

"Uh, why would Kim need your number," Ron frowned. "I don't get it."

"Stoppable," Shego deadpanned, "That doesn't surprise me a bit."

"So, what are you going to do," Kim asked as they climbed out of the van after reaching her family's home. For now, she was staying back home since her own apartment had been closed up after she seemed to have died. Again. No one hung back as the others headed inside while Kim and Shego faced one another in the drive. "Now, I mean? You taking off again?"

"I figured I'd just blaze, and try to figure that out myself," Shego admitted. "I'm not hurting, but even if I can live on a beach for the next fifty years that would admittedly be kind of boring," she sighed. "Maybe I'll look around, and see what kind of jobs I might be able to snag."

"You could join Team Possible," Kim grinned.

"Oh, no. I did the hero bit, Kimmie, and I wasn't impressed the first time."

"No. I think you just catered to Hego's fantasies, and that's not the same thing. I'm not going to demand you join us if you don't want to try it, though. I just… I'd like to see you, and maybe….talk more. About….things. You know, stuff we kind of….almost talked about….before."

"Oy," Shego sighed, and studied the redhead. "Are you saying you want to date," she asked bluntly.

"Well, maybe not date. Or…not at first. I just thought…. I started feeling….something, and I kind of thought we might at least be….friends. Maybe… You know…something else might come up, but….."

Shego reached out and put a finger over Kim's lips.

"You're still nuts, Kimmie. My number," she said, pulling out a card from her new purse she handed her. "Don't share."

"I wouldn't…."

"Not even with the Nerdlinger?"

"I can be discreet."

"Right. Like with Bets about our….trip down the proverbial rabbit-hole? Anyway, call when you get your head straight, and maybe we can both figure out what we're doing then," she grinned.

"Shego," Kim said as the woman pulled out a cell phone, and began to dial it, obviously calling for a ride. "I really am glad you were there. You helped more than you admitted, and we both know it."

Shego sighed and shook her head.

"And you wouldn't have even been in that mess without…."

"Drakken," Kim cut Shego off to declare.

"On that, we both agree. I should let him know I have completely, and permanently quit, too."

"Be careful. We don't want someone to think you're there to break him out again," Kim grinned.

"Oh, they won't. See, I just remembered that my old contract is still in effect. Which means if I have genuinely, and forever quit, he now owes me severance equal to one year's salary," the comet-powered woman smiled. "I wonder how he'll react to hearing that one."

"I think I can guess. How much do you make…?"

"Shame, Princess," Shego smiled as a taxi showed up just then, and the driver just gaped at them. "We haven't even gotten to the first date yet, and you want my financials?"

Shego burst into laughter at the redhead's expression and then turned to the taxi with a backward wave. "Later, Kimmie. Don't forget to invite me to your next graduation," she grinned as she climbed into the cab without caring the driver looked ready to have a heart attack. "Maybe we can make it a date," she teased, winking as she closed the door behind her.

"Airport," she told the man, not planning on a flight. She already knew Kimmie's Nerd had arranged for her jet to be parked at a private hangar, and she wanted to check it herself before she visited Drewbie one last time.

 **~KP~**

Kim lay staring at the ceiling that night, and still couldn't sleep in spite of finally being back home, well-fed, and actually fairly rested and relaxed just then.

Her mind kept churning, and all that seemed to fill her thoughts was the fact she had 'talked' to a herd of giant reptiles, and they had somehow understood and accepted her promise. She still had no idea who or what might be behind the weird underground world that was far more than Verne's hapless adventurers had indicated.

She wondered how that professor had managed to escape, and if he had been let go, too, rather than actually escaping.

She wondered about those skulls and the lives they represented.

Had they been someone unwilling to compromise, or protect whatever it was they had found?

She was still pondering her confusion when the room around her seemed to glow a faint yellow, and suddenly an older man with a stylish mustache and very dated clothing stood before her looking more phantom than real as he nevertheless locked eyes on her with a wry expression.

"Miss Possible is it," the man drawled in a thick, German accent.

"Are you….? No," she frowned.

"I am, and I am not," the man smiled, and gave a half nod. "I am a simulacrum based on your knowledge of the man you recognize. I am here as I am to better speak to you, and assure you that what you discovered is not for nefarious purposes. In truth, it's very important to the future of your world. Hence, the purpose of my visit to ensure you uphold your vow."

"It is," she exclaimed.

"Oh, my, yes. The underground world, however, cannot be found or tampered with, or the critical work being carried out there could be undone. If that happens, the fate of your world might become….suspect."

"I don't understand," Kim sputtered and sat up to stare at the seeming phantom that only eyed her as casually as if he were discussing the weather.

"Of course not. Nor will you. Not for several decades. In time, however, it is felt you will begin to understand, and when you do, your vow to hold the secrets you do know must be held inviolate. I cannot begin to stress how critical that is for everyone involved."

"So, your….puppet masters down there could still reach us if they felt we were…a threat," she frowned.

"Your terms are not quite…correct. Still, trust was favored over threats, or actions on their part. The protection of Life, after all, is our ultimate goal."

"That's what I try to protect, too," she nodded firmly.

"This is known. That knowledge gave the impetus to grant you trust."

"So….if not puppet masters, what are….they? May I ask that?"

"If you require a label, consider those as yet unseen as…overseers. I must go now. This communication was for your ears alone, and your parent is about to interrupt. Be well, Miss Possible, and be wary. Not all those about you will accept your tale. Just as some of your predecessors who returned were not completely….accepted."

"What happened to them….?"

She realized the yellow light was gone, though, and her mom was standing in the door eyeing her.

"Kim, are you all right?"

"Uh, sure, mom. What's the stich," she asked carelessly.

"I heard you talking, and I was worried you were about to run off again after you just…."

"No. Just…thinking out loud," she smiled. "Don't worry, I'm still giving myself time to fully recover before I rejoin Ron and the team. I have to figure out how to get my apartment back, too. Not to mention registering to get back into my graduate program, and finding another job."

"Just give yourself time, sweetheart," Ann told her. "And don't forget this is still your home. You don't have to run off again so soon," the older redhead assured her.

"I know, mom. I do. 'Night," she said, and lay back down, pointedly adjusting her covers.

"Goodnight, Kim," her mother said quietly, almost wistfully.

Kim lay there, eyes closed, and mind still churning as she considered the telling visitation, and all it revealed. Or didn't.

Whatever was down there didn't have to say a word. Yet it had pointedly sent her a message in the form of Professor Lidenbrock as if feeling the man's shape would be more…acceptable.

Overseer?

A purpose she couldn't yet see, but might discover herself in the future?

She frowned, but forced the thoughts from her mind, thinking she might discuss them with Shego, but only Shego. While the others had shown up and seen some of the world below, only Shego could fully understand what they had experienced.

No, that was a message she would keep to herself for now.

Just in case.

 _To Be Continued…._


	11. Chapter 11

_I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only._

 **Kim Possible: Impossible Journey**

 **By LJ58**

 **11**

"So," Kim asked as she sat facing Shego across the small booth as they shared coffee near the university where Kim was fast closing on her doctoral degree now that she was back in earnest.

Team Possible was revamped, and really taking off, especially since the Tweebs' Kimminator really made it easier to get to and from missions without issues now.

Monique was even considering joining their new squad, and she had to admit she had been surprised at how well Bonnie had been working out. Especially after the first time she had seen the shapely brunette take out a squad of Henches almost single-handedly.

She had yet to solve the job issue, but so far everything else was falling into place.

Well, except for Jack. The boys had yet to really get anything substantial on the jerk, but they had a lot of dirt on him that had him running scared all the same now that Kim was back, and actively pursuing him as avidly as she once chased some of his idiot clients.

She did find it amusing that Senor Senior, Sr. had heard she was back, and promptly retired from even casual villainy. They were still waiting to hear if Junior was going to follow his father back into obscurity, or if the moron was going to try to keep up his own notions of villainy. Such as they were.

"So," Shego asked after setting her cup down. "No, I can't say I had any weird, late night revelations. No freaky lights. No voices. No ghosts. Just the usual dreams, and…. Well," she sighed, "A few nightmares about…. You know," Shego grimaced.

Kim nodded as Shego eyed her expectantly.

"It just seemed….important. Like they were warning me of something coming our way. Something that they obviously felt might affect them, too."

"Them?"

"You heard what I said. Otto called them Overseers. I guess it kind of makes sense. Still, all that little nighttime visitation last month gave me was a billion other questions."

"Enough to go visit again?"

"Oh, no," she shook her head vehemently. "Even I'm not pushing my luck down there again."

"Smart. You know, for once," Shego grinned.

"Have you decided on that job offer yet?"

"I don't know. Security analyst seems a bit nine-to-five for me," Shego sighed, and lifted her cup again. "I mean, can you see me in an office, punching a clock."

Kim grinned but shook her head.

"I honestly don't," she admitted.

"What was that snigger," Shego growled. "You don't think I could?"

"Oh, you'd punch something, I predict, but I doubt it would be a clock."

"I'm not that bad," Shego grumbled.

"Right. Who has _five_ restraining orders forbidding you to see Drakken anymore?"

"He's just overreacting. Just because I said I'd take his kidneys in lieu of cash if he couldn't pay my full severance," she sniffed.

"Well, so far he's staying in jail for a change, and not even trying to get out."

"We both know that's because your monkey-master decided to let him think I'm working with you now. You don't want to know how he took that one, either."

"I think I can guess. Remember, it was my trying to call you that apparently had him boring into the planet, trying to crack the globe in the first place."

"Don't remind me," Shego sighed. "So, anyway, I thought I might try some merc work again…. For the good guys," she added at Kim's expression. "Not that I really see a difference with some of those guys."

"Depends on the job," Kim frowned.

"You're still kind of naïve, Kimmie, you know that, don't you?"

"I'm not naïve."

"Who took three weeks to figure out Stoppable was boning Bon-Bon?"

"I….."

Kim flamed and looked more than uncomfortable.

"It surprised me, okay. I didn't even think they liked each other. Not that much," she sputtered.

Shego only sniggered.

"Okay, so what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you still thinking of what to call our dates besides dates."

"We're not dating. We're having coffee," Shego quipped.

"And you say I'm slow," Kim grinned at her before sipping from her own cup.

"I'm not slow. I'm….cautious," Shego informed her. "Unlike a certain impulsive redhead that almost stumbled headfirst into another trap by _Lucre_ of all people."

"Now I have a…."

 _"Lucre,"_ Shego snorted, and enjoyed the look on Kim's face.

"Fine, he blindsided me. To be fair, he was working with Paradoxx, and that loon is a master of trap-traps, as Ron calls them. No one saw him being involved."

"Which should have warned you from the start something was up because Lucre isn't stupid enough to take you on alone these days."

Kim sighed.

"Okay, I missed that one. One time. _One_ time," Kim stressed.

"I still win the bet," Shego smiled happily.

"Fine, you get to pick our outing for this weekend. Do you have an idea where you want to…."

"No museum," Shego sniffed. "And no community service disguised as a day off," she added curtly as she glared at Kim.

Kim only sighed, but couldn't help but blush.

"It was one time. They needed help, and it was just unexpected, and…."

"And Kimmie still can't say no. Well, tonight, we're doing what adults enjoy. So go home, dress nicely, or as nice as you can, and I'll pick you up at seven."

"Do I get to know…?"

"You'll find out when we get there," Shego smiled smugly, thinking of her own plans for the night.

She was finally going to take a plunge, and see just how serious Kim might be about them. Especially since she had a very romantic film planned, followed by a nice meal at a very nice restaurant, and then dancing at a club for ladies only. Whatever came next would be up to Kim.

Shego had to admit she had hopes, though. A lot of hopes.

Especially as she kept having flashbacks of laying in those treetops with Kim curled up against her.

"What," Kim asked as Shego just smiled at her unexpectedly.

"Oh, just wondering if you actually have a nice dress, or if you are actually going to show up in mission clothes again."

"I have nice dresses," Kim huffed. "Lots of nice dresses. Really nice dresses."

Shego only grinned.

"Guess we'll find out. Seven, Princess," she told the redhead as she stood up after finishing her coffee, and smirking down at her. "Try to be ready," she said and walked out.

Leaving Kim with the check.

Kim sighed, and eyed the tab, but didn't feel too bad about it. She really did like going out with the still annoying, and occasionally frustrating woman.

Three months of unofficial dates and meetings and Shego actually had helped out Team Possible a few times in spite of protests. Still, Kim wasn't really certain how serious the woman was about her just yet. She seemed to make promises but always left her scratching her head in the end. She got up to pay the check and considered Shego's plans.

Dress nice?

For Shego, that could mean anything. Maybe she'd better ask her mom for advice. She just hoped it wasn't going to be another prank-date that Shego seemed to enjoy pulling off.

Leaving the coffee shop that had become their unofficial meeting place of late, she wondered if she should just admit that she was starting to think about a lot more between them of late.

Well, she'd just see what Shego had planned, and go from there.

Hopefully, it would be a nice night, and then…. Well, she would see.

 **~KP**

"Still nothing?"

"It's like he knows we're spying on him lately," Jim admitted to his brother as they eyed the monitors all around their secret lab under Team Possible's new headquarters that was now far more secure thanks to their efforts.

"Duh," Tim admitted. "Still, we know he's dirty. We just can't….prove it."

"And the harpy, or Kim, won't let us blast him without real proof."

"No, but there is another way," Tim said quietly. "Especially if no one knew we were involved."

"Talk to me," Jim demanded, hating the idea that jerk thought he had played a Possible, and got away with it.

"Jack is all about the cash. Bottom line, and profits. He doesn't care if his clients kill themselves, or half the world. So long as he's paid. Right?"

"Right," Jim nodded.

"So, we use our new AI, plug it into the spyware, and let her divert Jack's funds. A few thousand here. A few thousand there. We make it look like he's giving money to charities, or exploit his own faux contributions, but make them real. Insanely generously real," Tim grinned. "We could even make it look like some of his own are skimming, or his researchers are running up serious budgets overruns. Get the picture?"

"We bankrupt him," Jim grinned, liking the plan. "Have you run the scenarios?"

"In a best case, he is out of business inside six months."

"Acceptable. What's the worst case?"

"He figures it out inside of three, and tries to stop the hemorrhaging."

"And if he does?"

"He's still hamstrung, and likely ends up shutting down at least sixty percent of his own operations to recoup. Point being, he'll be distracted, less cautious, and maybe we can finally find that solid evidence to bring him down completely."

"So, either way, we poke a serious finger in that smug jerk's eye."

"A very big one," Tim nodded firmly.

"Let's do it."

"I thought you'd say that, so I already launched Operation: Ruin. We'll know what happens in at approximately three months."

"Let's just not let anyone else know," Jim added.

"Again, duh," Tim smirked. "Still, there are few jerks out there that still need reminding you don't mess with Possibles."

"Paradoxx," they said as one.

"Hicka-bicka-boo," they said as one before Tim added, "And I have been thinking of something special just for him."

"So have I," Jim smiled a far from an innocent smile.

"Shall we collaborate," Tim asked.

"Hoo-sha," Jim agreed as they began to plot anew.

 **~KP~**

The men around the tree moved carefully as they eyed the thick forest around them, watching for the guardians even as they worked.

One of them had found, and retrieved the provisions, and other items left by the strange women.

Women that burned without burning.

Women that could fly into the trees with just the lift of a hand.

Women who did not fear the guardians.

They had even faced them, fought them, and escaped alive.

They had seen strangers before now. There were memories of strangers in before-times, too.

Yet these were the first to show such wonders.

One man held up hollow gourd that still held water, and they all studied it. They drank from it, and noted the vine-rope that made it easily carried.

The women studied the vines but already knew how to make ropes. Just not as well as these were braided. They carefully undid a coil of the vine-rope brought back and just as carefully studied every inch as they rewound it before trying their own coils.

The men were still experimenting with smoking meat that seemed to last far longer than their usual charred meals. Even the meat the women had carried was strangely still good, and every one of them risked bites of the thin slices to test it when they realized the food had been left behind.

Overhead, the yellow orb pulsed, but there was no other movement around the thick jungle as the perennial light continued to shine, and unseen guardians pondered these new changes.

And waited.

 _End….?_


End file.
